Download A Comprehensive Outline of World History

A Comprehensive Outline of World History
(Organized by Region)
By:
Jack E. Maxfield
A Comprehensive Outline of World History
(Organized by Region)
By:
Jack E. Maxfield
Online:
< http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2/ >
CONNEXIONS
Rice University, Houston, Texas
This selection and arrangement of content as a collection is copyrighted by Jack E. Maxfield. It is licensed under the Creative
Commons Attribution 2.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/).
Collection structure revised: November 23, 2009
PDF generated: October 26, 2012
For copyright and attribution information for the modules contained in this collection, see p. 694.
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
The Mechanics of and Some Problems of the Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1 Africa
1.1 Geographical Presentation of Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2 Africa: Beginning to 8000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.3 Africa: 8000 to 5000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4 Africa: 5000 to 3000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.5 Africa: 3000 to 1500 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.6 Africa: 1500 to 1000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.7 Africa: 1000 to 700 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.8 Africa: 700 to 601 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.9 Africa: 600 to 501 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.10 Africa: 500 to 401 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.11 Africa: 400 to 301 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.12 Africa: 300 to 201 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1.13 Africa: 200 to 101 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
1.14 Africa: 100 B.C. to 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
1.15 Africa: 0 to A.D. 100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
1.16 Africa: A.D. 101 to 200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
1.17 Africa: A.D. 201 to 300 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
1.18 Africa: A.D. 301 to 400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
1.19 Africa: A.D. 401 to 500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
1.20 Africa: A.D. 501 to 600 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
1.21 Africa: A.D. 601 to 700 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
1.22 Africa: A.D. 701 to 800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
1.23 Africa: A.D. 801 to 900 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
1.24 Africa: A.D. 901 to 1000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
1.25 Africa: A.D. 1001 to 1100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
1.26 Africa: A.D. 1101 to 1200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
1.27 Africa: A.D. 1201 to 1300 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
1.28 Africa: A.D. 1301 to 1400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
1.29 Africa: A.D. 1401 to 1500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
1.30 Africa: A.D. 1501 to 1600 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
1.31 Africa: A.D. 1601 to 1700 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
1.32 Africa: A.D. 1701 to 1800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
1.33 Africa: A.D. 1801 to 1900 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
2 America
2.1 Geographical Presentation of America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
2.2 America: Beginning to 8000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
2.3 America: 8000 to 5000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
2.4 America: 5000 to 3000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
2.5 America: 3000 to 1500 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
2.6 America: 1500 to 1000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
2.7 America: 1000 to 700 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
2.8 America: 700 to 601 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
2.9 America: 600 to 501 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
2.10 America: 500 to 401 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
iv
2.11
2.12
2.13
2.14
2.15
2.16
2.17
2.18
2.19
2.20
2.21
2.22
2.23
2.24
2.25
2.26
2.27
2.28
2.29
2.30
2.31
2.32
2.33
America:
America:
America:
America:
America:
America:
America:
America:
America:
America:
America:
America:
America:
America:
America:
America:
America:
America:
America:
America:
America:
America:
America:
400 to 301 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
300 to 201 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
200 to 101 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
100 B.C. to 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
0 to 100 A.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
A.D. 101 to 200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
A.D. 201 to 300 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
A.D. 301 to 400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
A.D. 401 to 500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
A.D. 501 to 600 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
A.D. 601 to 700 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
A.D. 701 to 800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
A.D. 801 to 900 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
A.D. 901 to 1000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
A.D. 1001 to 1100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
A.D. 1101 to 1200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
A.D. 1201 to 1300 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
A.D. 1301 to 1400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
A.D. 1401 to 1500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
A.D. 1501 to 1600 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
A.D. 1601 to 1700 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
A.D. 1701 to 1800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
A.D. 1801 to 1900 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
3 Central and Northern Asia
3.1 Geographical Presentation of Central and Northern Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
3.2 Central and Northern Asia: Beginning to 8000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
3.3 Central and Northern Asia: 8000 to 5000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
3.4 Central and Northern Asia: 5000 to 3000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
3.5 Central and Northern Asia: 3000 to 1500 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
3.6 Central and Northern Asia: 1500 to 1000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
3.7 Central and Northern Asia: 1000 to 700 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
3.8 Central and Northern Asia: 700 to 601 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
3.9 Central and Northern Asia: 600 to 501 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
3.10 Central and Northern Asia: 500 to 401 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
3.11 Central and Northern Asia: 400 to 301 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
3.12 Central and Northern Asia: 300 to 201 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
3.13 Central and Northern Asia: 200 to 101 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
3.14 Central and Northern Asia: 100 B.C. to 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
3.15 Central and Northern Asia: 0 to A.D. 100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
3.16 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 101 to 200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
3.17 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 201 to 300 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
3.18 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 301 to 400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
3.19 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 401 to 500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
3.20 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 501 to 600 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
3.21 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 601 to 700 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
3.22 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 701 to 800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
3.23 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 801 to 900 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
3.24 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 901 to 1000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
3.25 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1001 to 1100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 211
3.26 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1101 to 1200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 212
3.27 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1201 to 1300 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
v
3.28
3.29
3.30
3.31
3.32
3.33
Central and Northern Asia:
Central and Northern Asia:
Central and Northern Asia:
Central and Northern Asia:
Central and Northern Asia:
Central and Northern Asia:
A.D. 1301 to 1400
A.D. 1401 to 1500
A.D. 1501 to 1600
A.D. 1601 to 1700
A.D. 1701 to 1800
A.D. 1801 to 1900
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 216
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 217
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 218
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 219
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 219
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 221
4 Europe
4.1 Geographical Presentation of Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
4.2 Europe: Beginning to 8000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
4.3 Europe: 8000 to 5000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
4.4 Europe: 5000 to 3000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
4.5 Europe: 3000 to 1500 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
4.6 Europe: 1500 to 1000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
4.7 Europe: 1000 to 700 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 242
4.8 Europe: 700 to 601 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
4.9 Europe: 600 to 501 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
4.10 Europe: 500 to 401 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 253
4.11 Europe: 400 to 301 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 257
4.12 Europe: 300 to 201 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 262
4.13 Europe: 200 to 101 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 265
4.14 Europe: 100 B.C. to 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
4.15 Europe: 0 to A.D. 100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 273
4.16 Europe: A.D. 101 to 200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
4.17 Europe: A.D. 201 to 300 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
4.18 Europe: A.D. 301 to 400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
4.19 Europe: A.D. 401 to 500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
4.20 Europe: A.D. 501 to 600 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
4.21 Europe: A.D. 601 to 700 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
4.22 Europe: A.D. 701 to 800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
4.23 Europe: A.D. 801 to 900 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
4.24 Europe: A.D. 901 to 1000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
4.25 Europe: A.D. 1001 to 1100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
4.26 Europe: A.D. 1101 to 1200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
4.27 Europe: A.D. 1201 to 1300 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
4.28 Europe: A.D. 1301 to 1400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
4.29 Europe: A.D. 1401 to 1500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
4.30 Europe: A.D. 1501 to 1600 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
4.31 Europe: A.D. 1601 to 1700 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
4.32 Europe: A.D. 1701 to 1800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
4.33 Europe: A.D. 1801 to 1900 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454
5 The Indian Subcontinent
5.1 Geographical Presentation of The Indian Subcontinent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477
5.2 The Indian Subcontinent: Beginning to 8,000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479
5.3 The Indian Subcontinent: 8000 to 5000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479
5.4 The Indian Subcontinent: 5000 to 3000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479
5.5 The Indian Subcontinent: 3000 to 1500 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480
5.6 The Indian Subcontinent: 1500 to 1000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
5.7 The Indian Subcontinent: 1000 to 700 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 482
5.8 The Indian Subcontinent: 700 to 601 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482
5.9 The Indian Subcontinent: 600 to 501 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483
5.10 The Indian Subcontinent: 500 to 401 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 483
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
vi
5.11
5.12
5.13
5.14
5.15
5.16
5.17
5.18
5.19
5.20
5.21
5.22
5.23
5.24
5.25
5.26
5.27
5.28
5.29
5.30
5.31
5.32
5.33
The Indian Subcontinent:
The Indian Subcontinent:
The Indian Subcontinent:
The Indian Subcontinent:
The Indian Subcontinent:
The Indian Subcontinent:
The Indian Subcontinent:
The Indian Subcontinent:
The Indian Subcontinent:
The Indian Subcontinent:
The Indian Subcontinent:
The Indian Subcontinent:
The Indian Subcontinent:
The Indian Subcontinent:
The Indian Subcontinent:
The Indian Subcontinent:
The Indian Subcontinent:
The Indian Subcontinent:
The Indian Subcontinent:
The Indian Subcontinent:
The Indian Subcontinent:
The Indian Subcontinent:
The Indian Subcontinent:
400 to 301 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 484
300 to 201 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 485
200 to 101 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 485
100 B.C. to 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486
0 to A.D. 100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487
101 A.D. to 200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488
A.D. 201 to 300 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489
A.D. 301 to 400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490
A.D. 401 to 500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491
A.D. 501 to 600 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491
A.D. 601 to 700 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492
A.D. 701 to 800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492
A.D. 801 to 900 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493
A.D. 901 to 1000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493
A.D. 1001 to 1100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494
A.D. 1101 to 1200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494
A.D. 1201 to 1300 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495
A.D. 1301 to 1400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495
A.D. 1401 to 1500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496
A.D. 1501 to 1600 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496
A.D. 1601 to 1700 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498
A.D. 1701 to 1800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500
A.D. 1801 to 1900 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501
6 The Far East
6.1 Geographical Presentation of The Far East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505
6.2 The Far East: Beginning to 8000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507
6.3 The Far East: 8000 to 5000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508
6.4 The Far East: 5000 to 3000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509
6.5 The Far East: 3000 to 1500 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 510
6.6 The Far East: 1500 to 1000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512
6.7 The Far East: 1000 to 700 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 513
6.8 The Far East: 700 to 601 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514
6.9 The Far East: 600 to 501 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515
6.10 The Far East: 500 to 401 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 517
6.11 The Far East: 400 to 301 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 518
6.12 The Far East: 300 to 201 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 519
6.13 The Far East: 200 to 101 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 522
6.14 The Far East: 100 B.C. to 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523
6.15 The Far East: 0 to A.D. 100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 525
6.16 The Far East: A.D. 101 to 200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
6.17 The Far East: A.D. 201 to 300 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528
6.18 The Far East: A.D. 301 to 400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530
6.19 The Far East: A.D. 401 to 500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531
6.20 The Far East: A.D. 501 to 600 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533
6.21 The Far East: A.D. 601 to 700 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534
6.22 The Far East: A.D. 701 to 800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537
6.23 The Far East: A.D. 801 to 900 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539
6.24 The Far East: A.D. 901 to 1000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 541
6.25 The Far East: A.D. 1001 to 1100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543
6.26 The Far East: A.D. 1101 to 1200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546
6.27 The Far East: A.D. 1201 to 1300 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
vii
6.28
6.29
6.30
6.31
6.32
6.33
The Far East:
The Far East:
The Far East:
The Far East:
The Far East:
The Far East:
A.D. 1301 to 1400
A.D. 1401 to 1500
A.D. 1501 to 1600
A.D. 1601 to 1700
A.D. 1701 to 1800
A.D. 1801 to 1900
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 551
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565
7 The Near East
7.1 Geographical Presentation of The Near East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571
7.2 The Near East: Beginning to 8000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573
7.3 The Near East: 8000 to 5000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574
7.4 The Near East: 5000 to 3000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575
7.5 The Near East: 3000 to 1500 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578
7.6 The Near East: 1500 to 1000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583
7.7 The Near East: 1000 to 700 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 586
7.8 The Near East: 700 to 601 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590
7.9 The Near East: 600 to 501 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 592
7.10 The Near East: 500 to 401 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594
7.11 The Near East: 400 to 301 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596
7.12 The Near East: 300 to 201 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597
7.13 The Near East: 200 to 101 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599
7.14 The Near East: 100 B.C. to 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601
7.15 The Near East: 0 to A.D. 100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603
7.16 The Near East: A.D. 101 to 200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604
7.17 The Near East: A.D. 201 to 300 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 606
7.18 The Near East: A.D. 301 to 400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608
7.19 The Near East: A.D. 401 to 500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611
7.20 The Near East: A.D. 501 to 600 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613
7.21 The Near East: A.D. 601 to 700 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
7.22 The Near East: A.D. 701 to 800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618
7.23 The Near East: A.D. 801 to 900 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619
7.24 The Near East: A.D. 901 to 1000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 621
7.25 The Near East: A.D. 1001 to 1100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 623
7.26 The Near East: A.D. 1101 to 1200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 625
7.27 The Near East: A.D. 1201 to 1300 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 626
7.28 The Near East: A.D. 1301 to 1400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 629
7.29 The Near East: A.D. 1401 to 1500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 631
7.30 The Near East: A.D. 1501 to 1600 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 633
7.31 The Near East: A.D. 1601 to 1700 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 635
7.32 The Near East: A.D. 1701 to 1800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 637
7.33 The Near East: A.D. 1801 to 1900 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 639
8 The Pacific
8.1 Geographical Presentation of The Pacific . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643
8.2 The Pacific: Beginning to 8000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 644
8.3 The Pacific: 8000 to 5000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645
8.4 The Pacific: 5000 to 3000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645
8.5 The Pacific: 3000 to 1500 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 646
8.6 The Pacific: 1500 to 1000 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 646
8.7 The Pacific: 1000 to 700 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647
8.8 The Pacific: 700 to 601 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 648
8.9 The Pacific: 600 to 501 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649
8.10 The Pacific: 500 to 401 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
viii
8.11
8.12
8.13
8.14
8.15
8.16
8.17
8.18
8.19
8.20
8.21
8.22
8.23
8.24
8.25
8.26
8.27
8.28
8.29
8.30
8.31
8.32
8.33
The Pacific:
The Pacific:
The Pacific:
The Pacific:
The Pacific:
The Pacific:
The Pacific:
The Pacific:
The Pacific:
The Pacific:
The Pacific:
The Pacific:
The Pacific:
The Pacific:
The Pacific:
The Pacific:
The Pacific:
The Pacific:
The Pacific:
The Pacific:
The Pacific:
The Pacific:
The Pacific:
400 to 301 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650
300 to 201 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651
200 to 101 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651
100 B.C. to 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652
0 to A.D. 100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653
A.D. 101 to 200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 653
A.D. 201 to 300 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 654
A.D. 301 to 400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 654
A.D. 401 to 500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 656
A.D. 501 to 600 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 656
A.D. 601 to 700 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 657
A.D. 701 to 800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 657
A.D. 801 to 900 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 658
A.D. 901 to 1000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 659
A.D. 1001 to 1100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 659
A.D. 1101 to 1200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 660
A.D. 1201 to 1300 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661
A.D. 1301 to 1400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661
A.D. 1401 to 1500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 662
A.D. 1501 to 1600 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 662
A.D. 1601 to 1700 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 664
A.D. 1701 to 1800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 664
A.D. 1801 to 1900 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 667
9 Special Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 673
10 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 675
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 676
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 690
Attributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 694
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
Foreword
1
“A Comprehensive Outline of World History” was written and self-published by Dr. Jack E. Maxfield.
The structure of the work is innovative. Each chapter covers a period of historical time (e.g. a century). Sections within
chapters describe what was going on in every geographical region of the world; each section provides a reference for
that region in the subsequent chapter, i.e. in the next time period. The reader can thus get a snapshot of the entire world
at a point in time by reading one chapter, or can follow the history of a region through time by linking to sections in
successive chapters.
This modular, linked structure is ideally suited to web-based online implementation, especially to the Connexions
platform. I am pleased to make this content available on Connexions for the enjoyment and enlightenment of everyone
with an interest in the history of our world.
Robert Maxfield
October 2008
More Details on the Origin of this Material
My father, Dr. Jack Eldred Maxfield, was an orthopedic surgeon with a deep interest in history. He self-published
three editions of “A Comprehensive Outline of World History.” The 1959 first edition consisted of 200 pages with 8
references in the bibliography, and included a unique time-line, hand-drawn and hand-colored by him, showing the
rise and fall of civilizations. An original and six carbon copies were typed from his hand-written manuscript. He put
these copies into binders and presented them to me and my friends as high-school graduation gifts.
The second, hardbound edition, published about 1975, was a single volume of 474 pages, 47 bibliographical references,
and numerous hand-drawn, hand-colored maps. I do not know how many copies were printed.
The third edition, typed by my father on an electronic typewriter and published in 1984, consisted of three hardbound
volumes totaling 1303 pages and 322 bibliographic references. Well over one hundred copies, in batches of 20, were
eventually published as demand grew. The following letter was included with each set he gave away:
Dear friends:
These three volumes are in no way to be considered a formal publication. They simply represent the end
result of some 25 years of reading, writing and re-writing historical material arranged in a chronological
way to suit my own fancy and for the use of my family if they so desired. I am happy now to include a
few friends who have expressed an interest.
1 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17880/1.4/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
1
2
Before using this manuscript for reference or even for casual reading, I would suggest that you first peruse
the pages numbered with Roman numerals in Volume I. They give the general plan of the outline and
suggest its purposes as well as defining some of its limitations. Please excuse any remaining typographical
and/or spelling errors and I am sure there are many.
Best regards,
Jack E. Maxfield
Jack Maxfield died on September 14, 2006, at age 93. The original 1984 typed manuscript of “A Comprehensive
Outline of World History” was found on a shelf in his closet. In 2007, a special print edition was published for
his grandchildren, future generations of our family, and for special friends. Thanks to the World Wide Web and
Connexions it is now available to everyone.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
Introduction
2
Back to The Foreword (Section )
My friends ask why I should undertake to write a World History. Aren’t there already enough such books in the English
language? Of course. There are dozens, perhaps scores of them, each with a particular purpose, or scope, or bias and
each with some limitations. The very excellent The Outline of History by H.G. Wells was published some sixty plus
years ago and lacks much of the information gained from recent archeology and other sciences. It devotes only about
two pages to the Aztec and Inca empires and only an occasional sentence about Central and South America, otherwise.
Sub-Saharan Africa is scarcely mentioned except in regard to the slave trade. The Durants’ multi-volume work, The
Story of Civilization is a beautifully written narrative which, however, gets bogged down in its later volumes with
tiring details of long ago politics, royal genealogies and religious and philosophical dialogues. Unfortunately, as
with other texts, it also has some inaccuracies. The more scholarly A Study of History is a somewhat mystical
interpretation of Arnold Toynbee’s personal ideas of history, not in any sense a chronological narration of happenings.
If the reader is not already well versed in the essential landmarks of the world’s factual history, understanding is of ten
difficult. The same might be said of the more recent Hugh Thomas’ A History of the World, which has no suggestion
of continuity from the standpoint of dates, but discusses one facet of man’s endeavors at a time, jumping freely from
1,000 B.C. to A.D. 1,800 and back again, assuming that the reader already knows the prosaic historical f acts to
appreciate these rapid changes of scenes. Again, inaccuracies are present, some of which are mentioned later in the
text. While the usual high school history books have been cut of most of the gore, tragedy and even obscenities of the
old world, some of the college and adult texts such as The Columbia History of the World and William McNeill’s
several texts are excellent, but they still do not reach the far corners of the earth in some of the centuries. The An
Encyclopedia of World History, compiled and edited by William L. Langer, is an excellent documentation of world
history - ancient, medieval and modern, chronologically arranged and this has been referred to many times during the
writing of this manuscript, particularly for confirmation of dates, dynasties, clarification of names, etc. It is not a book
for leisurely reading and enjoyment, however, and is essentially a list of year dates with short, concise material after
each, purely for reference. Similar, but less useful, is James Trager’s very recent The Peoples Chronology, a series of
completely unrelated and miscellaneous "facts" (some are gross errors) listed by years. It is difficult to see the value
of this except perhaps as a parlor game of "What things happened in the world at large in some specific year?" This
manuscript has one purpose only - to give a panoramic picture of the entire globe from the arctic to deepest Africa
and the south Pacific in specific time-frames. The emphasis is to give the overall view of the world and its peoples,
without dwelling in too much depth on those features that are easily available in every school and municipal library
and in many homes. I refer to such subjects as the details of classical Greece and Rome, the American Colonies and
the various wars and specific battles. For example, in this text less space may be given the American Revolutionary
and Civil wars than the pre-Inca civilizations of South America or the life of the Mongol soldiers in central Asia.
Information on the former subjects is available everywhere, while that on the latter two subjects is limited.
Forward to:
1. The Mechanics of and Some Problems of the Presentation (Section )
2. Introduction to the Method of Geographical Presentation3
2 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17889/1.3/>.
to the Method of Geographical Presentation" <http://cnx.org/content/m17890/latest/>
3 "Introduction
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
3
4
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Intro to Era4
Africa (Section 1.2)
America (Section 2.2)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.2)
Europe (Section 4.2)
The Far East (Section 6.2)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.2)
The Near East (Section 7.2)
Pacific (Section 8.2)
Some Thoughts5
Special Sections (Chapter 9)
Bibliography (Chapter 10)
4 "Beginning
5 "Images
to 8000 B.C." <http://cnx.org/content/m17804/latest/>
of Memorable Cases: Case 32" <http://cnx.org/content/m14954/latest/>
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
The Mechanics of and Some Problems of the
Presentation
6
Material is arranged in one sense chronologically and in another sense geographically so that the reader may review
historical situations either in a "satellite" cross-sectional view of the entire world in one time-frame, or may follow
events in any one geographical area through the many centuries in more or less brief narrative form by following the
simple (Continued on page so and so) after each section. An attempt has been made to give a brief resume of the
political status, important philosophies, scientific developments and religious trends while devoting proportionately
more time to a description of the status of the common people of an area at any given moment. Hopefully most of the
world’s outstanding personalities in all fields have been given some space, but it is admitted that many aspects of art,
literature, music and architecture may, in some opinions, be slighted, as these are not the major fields of the author’s
interests.
The textual data is presented in multiple chapters, each representing a definite period of time. The earlier chapters
span several millennia each, but beginning with the 7th century B.C. each chapter contains the events of one century
only. Within each chapter or time-frame in addition to some general remarks pertinent to the period as a whole, the
world situation will discussed under eight main headings or sections, representing eight great areas of the globe. These
areas and their subdivisions have been somewhat arbitrarily chosen, but seem to lend themselves satisfactorily to an
orderly consideration of the various societies and civilizations. One cannot prevent certain over-lappings and certain
difficulties with such a plan due to the changing political boundary lines from century to century. As one example it
will be remembered that the Great Wall of China ended at Jiayuguan in the west, marking the border of traditional
China, and beyond this on westward lies Central Asia. Yet today much of this land to the west belongs to the present
Chinese Peoples Republic, even though the inhabitants are still chiefly Turkish and Mongolian peoples. So, in spite
of the political shift certain areas currently under the domain of China, such as Sinkiang-Uighur (present spelling
Xinjiang Uygur) and Tibet, will be considered in this manuscript under the heading of CENTRAL AND NORTHERN
ASIA. Manchuria is considered an entity in itself, as part of the Far East complex.
Another matter which may annoy or confuse the reader as he progresses through the text is the spelling variations. One
must realize that language is a spoken phenomenon and that what we call "written language" is really only a notation
system that attempts to recall the spoken words to the observer. Thus when anyone attempts to write down a notation
that seems to him to record a spoken foreign word his rendition will depend on his own language background and
phonetics. The result may be only a rough approximation at best, and the spelling will vary greatly with the nationality
of the translator. One of the most fascinating examples of this would be in the spelling variations for the great Mongol
leader whose name has been variously written as "Jenghis Khan", "Chingis Khan", "Genghis Khan", "Chinggis Khan"
and perhaps others. The Mongols as a group have been named "Khalkas", "Tatars", "Tartars", "Cumans", "Kipchaks",
or "Poloritse" depending on the writer, his nationality and the location of the particular Mongol tribe at the moment.
It is well known that the English of ten use a "k" where Americans use "c" as in such words as "Keltic"-"Celtic" and
"Khosru-"Chosroes", etc. Although this author has attempted to be as consistent as possible there are probably many
exceptions for which apology is asked.
6 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17966/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
5
6
There is still another source of confusion concerning names. When the first names of the monarchs of medieval
and later Europe are all Anglicized we get an amazing succession of Charles, Henrys, Johns, Williams, etc. In one
world history index I counted about sixty-five rulers named Charles. In this manuscript in so far as possible the
monarchs’ names will be given in their own language so that differentiation may be aided. Thus in the Scandinavian
and Germanic countries Charles will be Karl and William will be Wilhelm. Similarly the French Henrys will be Henris
and the Portugese John will be the native Joao while Peter will be rendered as Pedro. Other examples will be apparent.
But that is not all! The Chinese emperors present special problems in nomenclature, as all Chinese have traditionally
had several kinds of personal names, and special names were of ten added according to interests or achievements.
Posthumous names were often given prominent individuals also to further complicate the situation. The old rulers
of China were seldom ref erred to by their personal names but rather by the epithets of ancestral temple ceremonies,
including the terms "tsu" (grandfather), "tsung" (clansman or ancestor) or "ti" (emperor). Founders of dynasties are
commonly designated "Kao-tsu" (exalted grandfather) or "T’ai-tsu" (grand progenitor). In addition the emperors of
the Ming and Ch’ing dynasties commonly coined era names indicating what they hoped the future would bring and
subsequently they might be called by their era-name. One trouble is that some changed era-names several times during
their reigns. Hucker gives the example: "Ming T’ai-tsu began his reign in traditional fashion with the era-name Hungwu (swelling military power) – ’the Hung-wu’ emperor is a technically correct alternative way of referring to Ming
T’ai-tsu."7 But one does not correctly say that his name was Hung-wu"!
One last warning. As this edition is being written almost all the Chinese cities and places are being spelled anew, in
an attempt to come closer to the true phonetic rendition of the Chinese words. Since at the moment this only seems to
add to the confusion and since it will be some years before most maps and texts will change to the new format, the old
system of spelling will be followed in this manuscript. Peking will still be "Peking" and not "Beijing".
This text will occasionally also have special sections on selected subjects or appropriate summaries of certain eras.
Terminology with reference to dates will be the traditional "B.C." referring to either years or centuries before the birth
of Christ, and "A.D." for a specific year after Christ. The latter abbreviation, of course, is for Anno Domini, meaning
"in the year of our Lord" and is therefore not properly used to refer to a century.
Thus, for those centuries after the birth of Christ we shall use the designation "C.E.", indicating the "Christian Era".
Footnotes will be indicated by number on each page, as demonstrated on this one. References to the bibliography will
be by number in the form (Ref. 34 ([54]), 102 ([147])) and usually will be grouped at the end of paragraphs or sections
to minimize confusion during the reading of the text. Some "additional notes" will be found at the end of the text,
beginning on page 1181. Triple asterisks - *** - in the text proper indicate that these additional notes are appropriate
to that paragraph. In some instances the page number is listed with the asterisks, but otherwise the notes are easily
found under the proper time-frame and then the geographical division, just as in the main outline.
7 Hucker
(Ref. 101 ([146])), page 288n
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
Chapter 1
Africa
1.1 Geographical Presentation of Africa1
Africa is a tremendous continent, measuring nearly 5,000 miles from north to south and the same from the western
edge at 20 north latitude to the eastern "horn". It comprises over 20% of the earth’s land surface. Throughout the
manuscript we shall discuss Africa under the subdivisions listed below.
1.1.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
This area includes present day Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia. It has about 2,000,000 square miles and is a
region where Hamitic and Semitic Caucasoids have met and merged with Negroid stock. Many of the Negroids seem
different than other black Africans and some authorities believe them to be a separate race, as for example – the Masai.
(Ref. 83 ([123])). In ancient times part of Ethiopia (Abyssinia) was known as Axum, while portions of the Sudan have
been known as Kush and Nubia. The Nile River runs through all of these countries with the exception of Somalia.
1.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST
This area includes present day Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and a large part of the Sahara Desert. Overall there are
nearly 3,000,000 square miles and the majority of the present population is descendant from the original inhabitants, as
no invader ever brought many individuals to the area. Even the great Arab waves of the 7th and 8th centuries probably
involved less than 200,000 people. The Berbers are a Caucasoid type, but with much physical variation from tribe to
tribe. They inhabit most of the coastal region, much of the mountainous country and the oases. The basic population
of the Sahara proper, particularly its more southern portions, was and is today basically Negroid, some native and
some descended from slaves. (Ref. 83 ([123])).
1.1.3 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
This area extends from far west Africa across the Sudanic plain as far east as the Lake Chad environs, then down to
the equatorial district as well as central, east and south Africa and the major islands. This very large spread of land
has many and varied peoples and cultures, but historical material is still relatively meager for most of it and from the
standpoint of manuscript space, it seems best to consider it under one section.
1 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17881/1.3/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
7
8
CHAPTER 1. AFRICA
Figure 1.1: Africa
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
America (Section 2.1)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.1)
Europe (Section 4.1)
The Far East (Section 6.1)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.1)
The Near East (Section 7.1)
Pacific (Section 8.1)
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
9
1.2 Africa: Beginning to 8000 B.C.2
1.2.1 AFRICA
Before the Ice Age, in the Pliocene Era, there were ape-like hominoids using weapons to kill prey in Africa. It is in the
anthropological digs in Tanganyika’s Olduvai Gorge that one finds the possible origin of man a million or more years
ago. Some cutting tools there are dated at 3,000,000 B.C. Human habitation in Egypt goes back at least 200,000 years
and there are stone tools in Zambia dating to 700,000 to 500,000 B.C. About 110,000 years ago there was a major
change in world climate (probably from eccentricity in the earth’s orbit) which gave rise to the Ice Age in northern
latitudes and to marked precipitation changes, both of distribution and amount, on the African continent. Homo erectus
disappeared and Homo sapiens, with middle Stone Age tool technology, appeared. Those men in Africa were similar
or identical to Neanderthal man in Europe and Asia.
About 20,000 B.C. during the Magdalenian period, there was a hunting culture in North Africa similar to that of
Spain and France, and the people left remarkable rock engravings of wild, large animals in some areas. Later post-ice
age (Mesolithic) paintings had lost the naturalism of earlier ones and may have been chiefly remembered symbolism
within the tribes, after the large animals had disappeared. Ateriaan bow and arrow makers in Maighreb and Stillbay in
Magosian settlements in south and east Africa are dated to 185000 B.C. At that time there was a land bridge from near
the horn of Africa to the Arabian Peninsula. The large game animals - mastodons and mammoths began to disappear
from Africa some 50,000 to 40,000 years ago and the number of human hunters probably decreased secondarily. Rock
art has been found dating back to 25,000 B.C. in Nambia; to 11,000 B.C. in southern Morocco; and to 7,000 B.C.
in Cape Province, South Africa. The first known Negro skeleton comes from Iwo Ileru in Nigeria and dates to about
9,000 B.C.
Stone artifacts show the same radio-carbon dating. Flint blades, adapted from ancient weapons, were used near the
Nile for reaping wild wheat by 12,000 B.C. (Ref. 18 ([31]), 28 ([48]), 140 ([190]), 66 ([97]), 45 ([66]), 130 ([180]),
226 ([302]), 88 ([131]), 83 ([123]), 213 ([288])) Additional Notes
NOTE : Wild camels were present in northwestern Africa from the middle Pleistocene down to the early Postglacial period. (Ref. 313 ([249])) Emmanuel Anati (Ref. 299 ([5])) dates the Namibia rock art to about the
same period as given in the text (26,000 to 28,000 years Before Present) and describes polychrome painted
slabs with animal figurines
Forward to Africa: 8000 to 5000 B.C. (Section 1.3)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era3
America (Section 2.2)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.2)
Europe (Section 4.2)
The Far East (Section 6.2)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.2)
The Near East (Section 7.2)
Pacific (Section 8.2)
1.3 Africa: 8000 to 5000 B.C.4
1.3.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: Beginning to 8000 B.C. (Section 1.2)
2 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17770/1.2/>.
to 8000 B.C." <http://cnx.org/content/m17804/latest/>
4 This content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17744/1.2/>.
3 "Beginning
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
10
CHAPTER 1. AFRICA
About 7,000 B.C. a two-man plough was used in Egypt, one man ahead pulling on a rope and the other pressing down
the point. (Ref. 213 ([288])) It is assumed that hunters and pastoral peoples lived in great parts of Africa, particularly
the north and east at this time, but there is little or no evidence of their culture except in the Sahara, itself. Some of
the Tassili pastoral rock paintings of that area may date back to 6,000 B.C. During the climatic optimum from about
7,000 to 3,000 B.C. the Sahara was bush country, well stocked with game. It well could have been a zone of human
interbreeding of races, in that today there are a number of Saharan and Sudanese tribes which appear to be intermediate
between Caucasoids and African Negroes. Mediterranean dark-white Hamitic Caucasoids appear to have come from
Asia, bringing Cushitic languages about 8,000 B.C. and spreading south along the Rift Valley of Africa to settle by
the lakes in Kenya. They were fishermen, using stone instruments and making pottery. (Ref. 83 ([123])) But to return
to the area of the Sahara, certainly before 6,000 B.C. this was a region of lush valleys, wooded hills and fertile rolling
plains, and the rock drawings of this early period suggest that the people were like the present day Bushmen, now
found only in the South African desert. But with the disappearance of the big game, particularly the buffalo, these
people were apparently replaced by herdsmen from the east, perhaps the ancestors of the present day nomadic Fulani
peoples (Ref. 215 ([290]), 176 ([242])) Elsewhere in Africa from about 6,000 B.C. on, some groups living near lakes
or rivers adopted a more settled way of life, using bone harpoons for fishing. Remains of these have been found near
Lake Chad, Lake Edward and Khartoum on the Nile. (Ref. 88 ([131]))
Forward to Africa: 5000 to 3000 B.C. (Section 1.4)
1.4 Africa: 5000 to 3000 B.C.5
1.4.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
Back to Africa: 8000 to 5000 B.C. (Section 1.3)
In this period there were Cushitic speaking Hamitic people along the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden on the coastline of
the horn of Africa. In Egypt, sometime between 4,500 and 3,100 B.C. the Badarian Culture existed, with agriculture,
irrigation, clearing of jungles and swamps and pictographic writing, which may have been imported from Sumeria.
These Badarians may have come from south of Egypt via the Red Sea and Wadi Hammarat, but it is possible that
immigrants from Jericho also arrived, bringing food-producing techniques. The overall population of the lower Nile
was probably less than 20,000 at 5,000 B.C. (Ref. 83 ([123])) The climate was cold and damp and the people wore
kilts or long skirts made of linen or skins with the fur inward. They lived in some type of tents or perishable wall
homes.
Hippopotami and crocodiles were in evidence, and in the area of el Badari there are bodies of dogs, sheep and oxen
wrapped in matting or linen. This suggests possible reverence for these animals. Lower Egypt had domestic grazing
animals from the Levant by about 4,500 B.C., but the Badarians lived primarily in middle Egypt and their pottery
dates to the second half of the 5th millennium by thermoluminescence. That they had outside contacts is evidenced
by ivory spoons, shells from the Red Sea and turquoise beads from the Sinai. Recent finds of a vast number of reed
ships, many with masts and sails have been made in the long dried-up wadi between the Nile and the Red Sea which
may well date back to this period. The Egyptians are basically Hamitic, but may well have added mixtures of Nubian,
Ethiopian and Libyan natives, coming from the Sahara as it slowly dried, along with immigrant Semitic or Armenoid
tribes. Cattle were used as beasts of burden perhaps by 4,000 B.C. The sail was used from about 3,500 B.C. on, and
pottery dating to 3,100 bears paintings of sickle-shaped sailing vessels, apparently built with reeds and complete with
cabins and centerboards. Egypt was first united as the "Old Kingdom" under Menes6 , who, as king of Upper Egypt,
subdued Lower Egypt and united the two with a new capital established at what was later called Memphis. Although
Egypt had no copper or tin, it did have gold and there were fabulous goldsmiths in Memphis (actually a clan of dwarfs)
from the early days of the United Kingdom. (Ref. 175 ([241]), 94 ([141]), 95 ([140]), 45 ([66]), 213 ([288]))
5 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17743/1.2/>.
is now considered to be one and the same with the legendary King Narmer of Hieraconopolis, so eulogized by Professor Toynbee. (Ref.
221 ([295]), 68 ([106])) Additional Notes (p. 11)
6 Menes
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
11
1.4.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
A Neolithic Hamitic culture was present in Algeria and Morocco with agricultural settlements and pottery by 5,000
B.C. The Sahara was quite wet from 7,000 to 2,000 B.C. and the many lakes reached their maximum extent about 3,500
B.C. when Lake Chad covered some 200,000 square miles. It is now the only remaining lake with 15,000 square miles
of water. The rivers of the Sahara ran inland so that alluvial material gradually filled up the inland basins, blocking and
slowing the streams. In the fierce sun that followed the changing climate, the water evaporated and the marshes dried
out. Salt deposits are still worked at such places as Amadror, Teghaza and Taoudenni which are simply old inland
basins. The people of the wet Sahara were Negroid and they raised domesticated cattle and left beautiful works of art
on rocks with some figures as high as twenty-six feet. Elephants, antelope, water animals and fish were abundant. The
Negroid people of this era were not the Bushmanoid, round-headed people pictured on the rock drawings before 6,000
B.C. (Ref. 8 ([14]), 176 ([242]))
1.4.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
At 4,000 B.C. there were two languages of the western Sudan family - Yoruba and Idoma - but they were already
very different and had apparently been diverging for several thousand years. (Ref. 83 ([123])) In tropical Africa there
were probably scattered bands of peoples whose descendants are the pygmies of the Zaire forests and Bushmen of
the Kalahari Desert. The first true Negroes probably lived as fishermen along the Nile and the Niger rivers and the
savannah north and west of the forest about 4,000 B.C. (Ref. 175 ([241]), 83 ([123]))
NOTE : Archeologist M.A. Hoffman of the University of South Carolina (Ref. 316 ([142])) writes of the
factors allowing the development of the "first nation", under Narmer (Menes). At Hierakonopolis, in Upper
Egypt, about 3800 B.C., there was slight seasonal rainfall, wooded grasslands, fertile flood plains and easy
access to the Nile. There were two settlements in the area with mud-brick and wattle-and-daub houses
spread over a 100 acre area and having perhaps as many as 10,000 people. This is called the Amratian
period (also Naqada I) and excavations have produced maceheads, as symbols of central authority. A huge
pottery industry was present, making Red Ware pottery which was traded up and down the Nile. Some
was used in the elaborate burials which were part of the Egyptians’ religious beliefs. Just after 3500 B.C.,
however, with the area becoming more arid, potteries were abandoned and the Amratian period came to
an end, as people moved into more thickly settled villages along the wetter Nile flood plain, initiating the
Gerzean or Naqada II period, which lasted until 3100 B.C. An elite class in the new villages built temples,
palaces, larger tombs and possibly an irrigation system, rendering the flood plain able to produce bigger
and more reliable harvests. But the water management and excess grain storage problems demanded more
central control. Various kings fought for dominance and finally it was Narmer, who succeeded in political
unification of the entire Egyptian Nile valley
Forward to Africa: 3000 to 1500 B.C. (Section 1.5)
1.5 Africa: 3000 to 1500 B.C.7
1.5.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
Back to Africa: 5000 to 3000 B.C. (Section 1.4)
Out on the horn of Africa, men in Somalia were producing frank incense and myrrh for sale to Egypt as early as
3,000 B.C. The Cushitic-speaking people continued expansion south of Egypt and into Nubia. Due to the change in
the Sahara climate, more Negro and Sudanic people settled just west of the Cushites (also Kushites), increasing the
population there (Ref. 8 ([14])) Additional Notes (p. 14)
7 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17742/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
12
CHAPTER 1. AFRICA
A map of Egypt of this period may be found in the early pages of the next chapter. The exact dating of the various
dynasties and eras of ancient Egypt continue to be debated.
NOTE: Insert Map taken from Reference 97 (page 61)
The dates used in this manuscript are those given by Professor Easton in The Heritage of the Past (Ref. 57 ([82])) and
these are fairly well coordinated with those used in The Columbia History of the World (Ref. 68 ([106])) and other
recent publications. The first stone constructed sepulchre of pyramidal design was built at Saqqara, near Memphis,
during the reign of Zoser (also Djoser), an early king of the 3rd dynasty, between 2,700 and 2,630 B.C. This was
called the "Step Pyramid" and was actually the creation of Imhotep, chief minister of the king, a man who was later
deified. Recent desert studies would suggest that this step pyramid and the larger ones to follow were actually shaped
after nature’s own desert, wind-swept dunes of the western desert. Sand-stone and solid rock mountains and dunes all
seem to have naturally assumed a conical shape, as the winds spiral about them to exhaust their energy at the pointed
top. It is very possible that the man-made structures were modeled after these natural ones, and it is said that a rocky
knoll of unknown size underlies the Great Pyramid and that there is a natural stone out-cropping at the tomb of Queen
Khent-Kawes. It is thus suggested that the ancients not only simply enlarged and refined already existing natural
conical structures, but that the very nature of these shapes have allowed them to withstand the winds and sand storms
of all the ages since they were built8 . Still more intriguing is the finding in the desert of forms very much like the
sphinx, indicating that where constantly directed winds hit certain geological formations an unusual shape somewhat
like that of a reclining dog with raised head, is formed.
Can the sphinx simply be a dressed-up natural formation of this type? Similar shapes have been found in the desert
as far back as 1909 (Ref. 59 ([87]), 243 ([88])) and there are suggestions of the same phenomenon in parts of Utah
today. Copper mines were developed in the Sinai by Pharaoh Snefu, a successor of Zoser. He also used large ships to
increase sea trade (Ref. 222 ([296])).
Bronze was in use in Egypt by 3,000 B.C. and the great pyramids were started about 2,600 B.C. in the time of Cheops
of the 4th dynasty9 . Because of the fertility of the Nile flood basins in this 3rd millennium, the average peasant
produced three times as much food as his family needed and thus he was capable of feeding the flood control workers
and the builders of public buildings and Pharaoh’s tombs. The first wooden boats were made in exact imitation of the
old reed boats. An entire such vessel of Cheops’, dating to 2,700 B.C., has recently been excavated from his pyramid.
It has a length of 143 feet and appears more graceful than a later Viking ship, but could only have been used for
ceremonies on the smooth Nile, as it had no internal ribs and could not have survived ocean sailing. Only the papyrus
ships from which it was copied could withstand the ocean waves.
All subsequent rulers of the Old Kingdom built great pyramids such as that of Cheops and these edifices had great
religious significance. There is no doubt that great numbers of slaves were used in their construction, and they were
obtained chiefly from Nubia and some of these were even exported on to Iraq. Toynbee (Ref. 220 ([294])) feels that
the 4th dynasty (2,600 to 2,500 B.C.) represents the height of Egyptian Society culture and growth. The population
at that time was probably about three million, or more (Ref. 83). Disintegration of the society or "time of troubles",
according to Toynbee, began in the 6th dynasty (2,300 to 2,200 B.C.) and for four centuries there was no central
control but only small feudal states ruled by provincial governors, the "nomarcha", who levied taxes and kept small
armies. Kings did exist, but in name only. About 2,000 B.C. Amenemhet I, a Thebian nomarch, marched down the
Nile and established the 12th dynasty as a central ruling government, beginning the "Middle Kingdom" of Egyptian
history. Toynbee considers this the "Universal State" of the degenerating Egyptian Society, in which the sins of the
pyramid builders were visited on their successors, but Professor Cheilik (Ref. 28 ([48])) describes this as a period of
increasing trade and contacts with other countries, in spite of some political deterioration. When a mummy of Wah, an
official of this Thebes Dynasty, was unwrapped at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York they estimated that
about 365 square meters of linen had been used. This craft of mummification had been developed over a long period
8 The conical shapes of primitive shelters from the American Indian tepees to African and Arabian Desert tents and Mongolian and Kazak yurts
in central Asia may all resist the winds in the same way (Ref. 59 ([87]))
9 Thomas (Ref. 213 ([288]), page 32) dates the Great Pyramid at 2,900 B.C. and comments on its exactly squared base, the 50 degree slope of
all surfaces and the fact that the stones are so well fitted together that a blade cannot be inserted between them
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
13
and all the technique is still not known. Certainly the first step was removal of the internal organs of the deceased,
sometimes by an abdominal incision, sometimes by a corrosive agent introduced in an enema. The second step was
dessication with the use of natron, either dry or in solution. Finally the body was anointed with balms and ointments
and the extensive bandaging began. All of this was simply to preserve the body as an eternal repository for the soul.
(Ref. 246 ([23]))
The port of Byblos on the Phoenician coast was a large emporium for Egyptian products and Egyptian wares were
wanted in Crete and Mesopotamia. With the conquest of Nubia a large supply of gold was obtained and a high point of
prosperity was reached under Senusert (also Sesostris) III (1,878-1,840 B.C.). Egypt had a population at that time of
seven to eight million (Ref. 176 ([242]), 95 ([140]), 57 ([82]), 68 ([106]), 8 ([14]), 220 ([294]), 28 ([48]), 213 ([288])).
The Middle Kingdom ended with about two hundred years of turmoil and disputes for the throne, until 1,680 B.C.
when the nomad Semitics called "Hyksos" (probably Canaanites) invaded from the Arabian area. These invaders
brought the domesticated horse with chariot warfare and men using composite bows and were thus invincible at that
time. They made their capital in the Nile delta at Avaris and their overlords called themselves "pharaohs". Previous
to the advent of the Hyksos’ horses the Egyptians had used only the donkey as a beast of burden but the invaders
did not penetrate the country far from the Nile delta, and the Egyptians considered themselves a distinct and separate
people and did not easily accept strangers or new ideas so they refused to adopt either the horse-drawn chariot or the
composite bow. The population as a whole was thus not greatly influenced (Ref. 246 ([23]))
About 1,567 B.C. another Thebian king, Kamose, started a war of liberation from upper Egypt and recovered most of
the territory from the invader Semites. The job was completed by his brother, Amosis I, a few years later. The Hyksos
movement probably presented the final upheaval in the Amorite series of expansions that will be discussed under the
section on the NEAR EAST, below. It was probably at the time of this Semitic domination that the Biblical Joseph
moved into Egypt (Ref. 231 ([308]), 122 ([170]), 8 ([14]), 136 ([187]))
The bow-drill was used in Egypt from 2,500 B.C. on and rules of measurement, the plumb-line, construction of a right
angle and the shaping of stones with a mason’s square were all features of this society. Ahmes calculated the area of a
circle about 1,600 B.C. and Ptah-Hotep was a great philosopher of the 3rd millennium B.C. The Middle Kingdom was
also a period of fine craftsmanship. A beer called haq was commonly drunk and was made from red barley of the Nile
valley. Bread was supposedly also first made here in the dynastic period because of the development of a new kind of
wheat which could be threshed without the application of heat. The ass, of African origin, was first used for regular
trade between Egypt and Iraq sometime after 2,000 B.C.
Our knowledge of Egyptian medicine (except for commentaries from Greek and Roman writers) comes from seven
medical papyruses discovered in the last century. The oldest of these, the fragmentary Kahun Papyrus, deals with
veterinary medicine and women’s diseases. The next, dating to about the 17th century B.C., is concerned with surgical
matters beginning at the top of the head and working down to the mid-chest. The longest of the papers, the George
Ebers Papyrus, dates to about the 16th century B.C. and is an extensive therapeutic text written a millennium before
Hippocrates and containing prescriptions dating back to 3,700 B.C. It was probably a copy of older documents. This
papyrus, twelve inches wide, unwinds to a length of sixty-six feet. Egyptians rather routinely removed all internal
organs after death, saving them in special containers as the body proper was mummified, but they knew very little
about the functions of these organs. Although they paid much attention to cleanliness, having almost a national
fetish of keeping the gastro-intestinal tract clean with multiple purges, emetics and enemas of every conceivable kind,
disease was still rampant. Mummies show evidence of tuberculosis of the spine with accompanying spinal deformities
and cold abscesses, club foot, polio and measles, not to mention the undoubted parasitic infestations they must have
obtained, and still do, from the Nile. Eye diseases, particularly trachoma, leading to blindness, were and are still
common in Egypt. It responds some to copper preparations and it is interesting that Egyptian women wore green
eye make-up, probably made from copper salts. In general, treatment was a mixture of religio-magical gestures and
the use of an extensive pharmacopoeia and some limited surgical procedures such as cauterization, circumcision and
occasional trepanning of the skull, if indeed, this was actually a medical procedure. Dentistry was advanced with
prosthesis construction as early as 2,600 B.C. Egyptian physicians had good reputations throughout the ancient world
and at home. There was apparently a definite medical hierarchy, beginning at the top with the Pharaoh’s physician.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
14
CHAPTER 1. AFRICA
Special training schools for physicians were attached to temples (Ref. 211 ([284]), 125 ([173]), 15 ([26]), 213 ([288])).
Additional Notes (p. 14)
1.5.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
The Hamitic Berbers had a well established Neolithic Culture in a large area along the coast of North Africa, but they
had no copper. They were probably descendants of the ancient Mediterranean peoples and related to the Iberians and
Basques. There were two major subgroups:
• The nomadic Tauregs of the desert who maintained strict hereditary classes, with an ancient alphabet and using
artistic trappings on their camels and jewelry on themselves, and
• The Kabyles, particularly of Algeria, living as a settled tribe, long famous for pottery made without the use of
the wheel. (Ref. 46 ([76]), 19 ([32]))
Dessication of the Sahara set in about 3,000 to 2,500 B.C., causing some pastoralists to move into the jungles of the
Nile Valley and others to move south with the rains. This shift to arid conditions in the Sahara may have stimulated the
emergence of civilization in Egypt. By 2,000 B.C., as reflected in the Sahara rock drawings, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses and giraffes had already vanished from this area. Southward expansion of cereal-growing occurred during the
2nd millennium B.C. as millet and sorghum were domesticated as tropical crops (Ref. 215 ([290]), 176 ([242]), 8
([14]))
1.5.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
The southern shift of the cereal-growing belt, due to the change in the Sahara climate, resulted in an increase of the
Negro populations. (Ref. 8 ([14]))
NOTE : Kerma, 1,500 kilometers north of modern Khartoum, was the capital of Kush. Egypt of the Middle
Kingdom had to deal with these Nubians and did so with forts at Senna, some 270 kilometers north of
Kerma. The city itself was an extensive urban development, particularly after 2000 B.C. The large tombs of
"royalty" contained animal sacrifices and some of them even had up to 400 human sacrificed retainers. The
Nubian culture spread over central and northern Sudan. This particular culture of Kerma almost completely
disappeared after colonization of the area by the pharaohs of the XVIII Dynasty of Egypt. (Ref. 303 ([25]))
After 1,520 the New Kingdom of Egypt used Nubian gold to hire charioteers as a professional force. (Ref.
279 ([191]))
Forward to Africa: 1500 to 1000 B.C. (Section 1.6)
1.6 Africa: 1500 to 1000 B.C.10
1.6.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
Back to Africa: 3000 to 1500 B.C. (Section 1.5)
The story of Northeast Africa in this period is essentially that of Egypt with little change occurring in the adjacent
regions, except for Cush or (Kush). After the overthrow of the foreign Hyksos rulers local control was resumed within
the establishment of the New Kingdom of the Egyptian Empire, with the great pharaoh, Thutmose III, taking over part
of the coast of the Near East and bringing Egypt in contact with other cultures. He even took an interest in Asiatic
flora and fauna and brought specimens home. Extensive commercial ties resulted in imports of Cretan wares, Syrian
amphorae and African gold, ebony, ivory, hides and exotic animals. At about 1,500 B.C. the Egyptians had pushed
south to become the masters of Kush, "to protect their security" and incidentally to obtain gold. The Kushites, who
may have descended from C-group Caucasoids, became increasingly Egyptianized. (Ref. 83 ([123])) The greatest
10 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17741/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
15
geographical expansion, however, was reached under Amenhotep III, about 1,390 B.C. This ruler had his likeness
constructed in two colossal statues across the Nile from Luxor, by transporting huge pieces of quartzite11 some four
hundred miles from a quarry down stream on the Nile. Recent scientific research, identifying the rock, would indicate
that the transport had to have been accomplished on a specially built lighter drawn upstream by oars and gangs of
draggers on the banks. About a century earlier such a great barge was engraved on the walls of the temple of Queen
Hatshepsut at Deir-el-Bahri. (Ref. 231 ([308]), 90 ([134]))
NOTE: Insert Illustration (page 103)
Amenhotep IV allowed some political decline, but, changing his name to Akhnaton (or Ikhnaton) he attempted to force
a new, strictly monotheistic religion on the Egyptian people, but the new faith did not last long. Tutenkhamon ruled in
1,355 and Rameses II, who exhausted his resources in wars against the Hittites and then married an Hittite princess,
ruled about 1,250 B.C. He built the first Suez Canal, a task not too difficult then, as the sea was higher than at present.
A victory inscription of Pharaoh Merneptah (about 1,224-1,214 B.C.) mentions the Hebrews, and this may have been
when Moses led the Hebrews back to Palestine. After 1,165 Egypt lost all territory beyond the Nile valley itself. In
the early part of this period under the Ramessid kings of the XX dynasty, the dominant religion had returned to the
worship of the Sun God Re and Amon, but gradually the Osirian church began to take over among the majority of the
people. This involved the worship of the God Osiris and his sister-wife, the nature Goddess Isis and their infant son,
Horus. The mysteries of this religion, including the death and resurrection of Osiris and the interpretation of Isis as
the "Mother of God" spread throughout the Near East in the next many centuries, and eventually served at one time as
both a model and a rival for Christianity, persisting well up to the 6th century C.E. However, at about 1,100 B.C. the
high priest of Amon took over the throne and the empire became a stagnant theocracy. Even Kush was able to regain
its independence. Invasions of "Sea peoples" - mixed armies of Cretans and Luvians, perhaps - probably contributed
to Egyptian decline. Ref. (28 ([48]), 46 ([76]), 38 ([59]), 8 ([14]), 224 ([299]))
The glory of Egyptian science was medicine. Public sanitation was promoted and all were circumcised and taught to
use enemas as cleansing procedures. They used glass, linen, paper and ink, the calendar and waterclock, geometry
and an alphabet. The empire had a peaceful, internal government with a regular census and post, both primary and
secondary education for some and technical training schools for administrators. Wheeled vehicles were common, and
they utilized bronze and such tools as blacksmith bellows. The Nile valley lacked iron ores so the Egyptians were
limited in the use of the new military technology that appeared in adjacent regions late in this period. In dynastic
Egypt the basic diet of the peasant consisted of bread, beer and onions, the first being a flat bread called "ta", but
nobles and priests could choose from some forty types of breads and pastries.
Chickens were available and later the Nile marshes supplied eel, mullet, carp and perch, and some of these fishes,
dried and salted, were exported to Syria and Palestine. (Ref. 136 ([187]), 211 ([284]))
1.6.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
Neolithic Berbers continued to live in North Africa. The population of Libya was added to by Anatolian Sea People,
perhaps Cretans and/or Luvians, who attacked Egypt about 1,400 B.C. and then colonized Libya. Many of these
invaders were later employed in the Egyptian navy. Herodotus, Pliny and other ancient writers, described a people
called "Garamantes" who lived in present day Fezzan (375 miles northeast of Timbuktu) and who traveled in twowheeled chariots drawn by horses. Rock engravings in this area have confirmed this. Were they part of the Sea
Peoples? Some say the Tauregs are their descendants. Definitely among the Sea People were Shardana (or Sherden)
who carried round shields, broad swords and who wore feathered war-bonnets. Phoenician immigrants settled in
Morocco about 1,100 B.C. and these areas later became part of the Carthaginian Empire.
This was confirmed by the Greek historian, Procopius, who wrote that this Phoenician migration came at the time of
King David’s Hebrew wars. (Ref. 65 ([96]), 176 ([242]), 66 ([97]), 175 ([241]))
11 The
pedestal blocks with each statue made a total weight of 720 metric tons each (Ref. 90 ([134]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
16
CHAPTER 1. AFRICA
The Canary Islands in the Atlantic just off the coast of northwest Africa were inhabited before the known arrival
of Europeans by the Guanche, who were a mixed Caucasoid and Negroid people, varying somewhat from island to
island, with blond and bearded men living next to dark-skinned, clearly Negroid individuals. This has been confirmed
both by early descriptions and by mummies found on the islands. The "Canary Current" is a strong, westward flowing
Atlantic ocean current going straight from these Canary Islands to the Caribbean Sea and the base of the Yucatan
peninsula. It is of great interest that the Olmecs, living at the western end of this Canary current in America at this era,
were identical physically with those Guanche of the Canaries. The distance from these islands to Middle America is
equal to that from Asia Minor to the islands, but the former trip is infinitely faster and simpler on anything, such as a
reed-boat or even a raft. (Ref. 95 ([140]))
1.6.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
Negro farmers inhabited the Sudanic belt and their population continued to increase as fruits, vegetables and cereals
were cultivated in the forest zone. Ghana, in west Africa, had domestic cattle and goats by 1,500 B.C. There was
also pottery, stone axes, shale arm-rings and fine stone points, whose use is unknown. In southern Mauretania, on the
southern fringe of the Sahara, excavations at Dar Tichitt have revealed the so-called Naghes phase, dated from 1,200
to 1,000 B.C. and showing circular compounds with evidence of cattle and goat herding, fishing and some hunting.
The people had stone axes, arrowheads, gouges, and pottery. In central and southern Africa nomadic black Bushmen
lived in the Stone Age. (Ref. 8 ([14]), 45 ([66]))
By 1,000 B.C. additional Caucasoid groups called "Azanians" brought cattle and cereals to join the previously settled
dark whites in the Kenya highland and adjoining northern Tanzania. They left stone burial chambers, hut circles,
terraced fields, roads and traces of irrigation. By tradition the Azanians were tall, bearded and red-skinned. In later
centuries these people were absorbed by the Nilo-Hamites and the Bantu Negroids. (Ref. 83 ([123]))
Forward to Africa: 1000 to 700 B.C. (Section 1.7)
1.7 Africa: 1000 to 700 B.C.12
1.7.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: 1500 to 1000 B.C. (Section 1.6)
1.7.1.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
At the beginning of the last millennium B.C. Kush (or Nubia) was an area of fertile grassland, although now it is desert.
Prosperity then in the area depended on exports of ivory, ebony, gum, hides, ostrich plumes and slaves. The northern
Nubians were dark-skinned but probably of Asian origin, while farther south around present day Khartoum, there were
Negroes. Ethiopia began to be colonized by Semites from Sheba in Yemen in the 10th century B.C. Ethiopian legend
says that their country was founded by Menelik, eldest son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. In the 8th century
B.C. Kush was strong enough to conquer Egypt, perhaps with the help of those Ethiopians, and they established the
XXV dynasty in 725 B.C. (Ref. 83 ([123]))
In Egypt the post-empire period of the New Kingdom lasted from 1,090 intermittently until 525 B.C. The internal
decay of the theocracy was soon followed, as is common in history, by invasion and dominance by foreign powers.
About 950 B.C. Shishonq, chief of the Shardana tribe of the Sea People who had faded into the Libyan desert some
two centuries earlier, revolted against the Egyptian monarch and installed himself as pharaoh in the city of Bubastis,
establishing the Libyan Dynasty, ruling both Egypt and Libya. Egypt then became a maritime power, exporting
alabaster vases with various seals to Spain. The name "Shishonq" has also been found on some American inscriptions,
although the relationship is not clear at this time. As mentioned above, the Libyans were followed in 722 B.C. by
12 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17740/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
17
the Kushites (and perhaps some Ethiopians) coming from the south. No cultural advance occurred in Egypt in those
troubled times. (Ref. 46 ([76]), 175 ([241]), 66 ([97])).
1.7.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
While the Libyans were in control of Egypt their influence and language spread far and wide, even to the Indo-Pacific
region where the Egyptians had long mined gold (particularly Sumatra). Fell (Ref. 122 ([170])) says the Libyan
language spread with Greek influences into Melanesia. In the Mediterranean after 813 B.C. there were coastline
colonies of Phoenicia, notably the growing Carthage, located in the Bay of Tunis near the modern city of Tunis.
Archaeologists, however, have found nothing at Carthage that can be dated before 735 B.C. Like the parent Phoenicia,
Carthage also manufactured a purple cloth by a secret dyeing process utilizing the pigment from a sea snail, called
"Murex", and the Greeks named the traders who sold this, "Phoinikoi" or "The Purple People". The Romans then
called them "Punici" and later the word "Punic" came to refer exclusively to the Carthaginians.
In Mauretania this period saw a decrease in rainfall and fishing was no longer possible, but millet was cultivated in the
fields. This was the Chebka phase of the Dar Tichitt Culture. By 1,000 B.C. a new, Hamitic speaking people from the
north, ancestors of present day Berbers, had established themselves in the Sahara region, with chariots, horses, goats
and cattle. (Ref. 65 ([96]), 84 ([124]), 66 ([97]), 45 ([66]))
1.7.1.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
Most of southern Africa remained much as in the previous centuries. Sometime in this 1st millennium B.C. a break in
the forest belt in the east allowed Stone Age farmers, herdsmen and perhaps cereal growers to spread down the Rift
valley from Ethiopia into central Kenya and northern Tanganyika. (Ref. 8 ([14]))
Forward to Africa: 700 to 601 B.C. (Section 1.8)
1.8 Africa: 700 to 601 B.C.13
1.8.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: 1000 to 700 B.C. (Section 1.7)
1.8.1.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
Overpopulation in Yemen, on the Arabian Peninsula, forced bands of Arabs to cross the Red Sea and settle on the
northeastern edge of the Ethiopian plateau. They were good farmers and irrigators and got along well with the local
Cushitic speaking people who had a similar degree of culture. (Ref. 83 ([123])) There is some evidence that Phoenicians, with the Egyptian pharaoh’s support, were making sailing trips south out of the Red Sea at this time, and perhaps
they even circumnavigated Africa.
Early in the century, the Assyrians under General Esarhaddon, then at the height of his power, swept down and
subjected priest-ridden Egypt to tribute and restricted the kings of the 25th (Kushite) dynasty to the country upriver
from Thebes. Esarhaddon put Necho, local prince of Sais, in control of the delta region, but subsequently Necho’s
son, Psammeticus I broke away from the Assyrians and re-established an independent Egyptian kingdom again (26th
dynasty-655 B.C.) and even pushed the Nubians and Kushites out of upper Egypt. The chief contribution of the
Assyrians to this region was the introduction of iron, which soon spread up the Nile, as the Kushites, retiring back to
their capital at Napata, took the knowledge of iron for weapons and tools with them. (Ref. 136 ([187]), 83 ([123]), 28
([48]), 175 ([241]), 213)
13 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17739/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
18
CHAPTER 1. AFRICA
In mid-century there were many Greek immigrants to Egypt, including mercenaries, colonists and traders. New crops
were introduced such as figs from Turkey, vines from Greece, sheep from Arabia and pigs from Sicily. Currency
replaced barter and caravan routes were developed. Slave labor was used in mines and quarries. After 609 B.C.
Pharaoh Necho (also Niku II) attempted to run a wide canal from the Nile to the Red Sea and expended the lives of
some 120,000 men in the process, but it was never completed. Necho also had an army conquer Palestine, but the
Babylonians ran them out after about four years. (Ref. 83 ([123]))
1.8.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
Cyrene, Libya, was the site of an important Spartan Greek colony by about 630 B.C. Carthage had contined to develop and had iron-working in its various settlements, a skill which then crossed the desert through trans-Saharan
trade routes. It was at this period that the Assyrians were attacking the Phoenician homeland, and Carthage became
increasingly more important as a center for that civilization. Gradually the Carthaginian or Punic dialect and alphabet
came to differ from that of the Lebanese Phoenicians. By the end of the century Carthage was receiving Etruscan
metals and pottery. Some of the latter was of truly Italian origin and some imitations of Corinthian ceramics. (Ref. 8
([14]), 66 ([97]), 75 ([115]))
1.8.1.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
On the west side of Africa there was further climatic deterioration after 700 B.C. The spread of people down the Rift
Valley into east Africa continued and both cattle and sheep were kept. The central and southern regions had little
change from the situation described in the last chapter.
Forward to Africa: 600 to 501 B.C. (Section 1.9)
1.9 Africa: 600 to 501 B.C.14
1.9.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: 700 to 601 B.C. (Section 1.8)
1.9.1.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
As the century opened Egypt was again attempting expansion into Asia under native rulers and a punitive expedition
was sent south to sack the Kushite Napota (591 B.C.) forcing the movement of this Kushite capital south to Meroe.
Another view, however, is that the Kushite rulers simply elected to move their capital 300 miles south because wood
for smelting iron ore was becoming scarcer and the land was being overgrazed. At any rate, Meroe then became a
major iron center. Kush had a mixed Caucasian and Negro population and thereafter remained independent of the
various Egyptian rulers. The nation owed its prosperity to trade in ivory, ebony, gum, hides, ostrich plumes, iron and
slaves, all of which were carried either down the Nile to Egypt or across the Red Sea to Arabia and Mesopotamia.
They also had great herds of cattle and adequate agriculture15 .
Egypt maintained close commercial relations with both the Greeks and Lydians. In the latter part of the century, the
Egyptians were pushed back out of the Asiatic mainland again by the rampaging Persians, and by 525 B.C. half of
Egypt itself had been conquered by the Persian Cambyses, son of Cyrus. After Cambyses committed suicide in 521
B.C., Darius continued to rule most of this area. (Ref. 175 ([241]), 8 ([14]), 68 ([106]), 28 ([48]))
14 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17738/1.2/>.
this area of ancient Kush is almost completely desert. (Ref. 83 ([123]))
15 Today
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
19
1.9.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
By this time Carthage had developed an empire of its own, with settlements in western Sicily and Sardinia and with
contacts in Spain and along the African coast. In 520 B.C. Admiral Hanno landed 30,000 settlers from 60 vessels at
the mouth of the Rio de Oro in what is now Western Sahara. The colony lasted about fifty years. (Ref. 222 ([296]))
Herodotus says that Phoenicians circumnavigated Africa in 600 B.C., starting in the Red Sea and going clockwise.
Himilco, sailing from Carthage, touched the shore of Ireland and found it a fertile land. All of this exploration and
expansion brought some troubles closer to home. Although they had previously been trading partners, the competition
between the Etruscan Caere and Carthage now became so acute that conflict became inevitable. Malchus, of Carthage,
consolidated the Punic position in western Sicily and then tried to do the same in Sardinia, although the native Sardinian states fought back viciously and they were soon helped by the maritime Phocaean Greeks. Caere threw in its lot
with Carthage on this occasion. Herodotus, writing in the next century, said that the Phocaeans16 won but in so doing
lost forty ships and had another twenty severely damaged. They returned to Alalia, got their women and children and
resettled in Rhegum in south Italy, leaving Corsica also to the Carthaginians and Caeritans. In 509 B.C. Carthage
signed a treaty with the rising Rome, defining respective spheres of influence. (Ref. 84 ([124]))
Barry Fell (Ref. 65 ([96])) infers that after the Persian conquest of Egypt and the rise of the Greek and Roman
empires, the eastern Mediterranean was closed to Carthaginian shipping, so Carthage retaliated by closing the straits
of Gibralter to all European vessels. Then under the guise of supposed Spanish and north African trade, they exploited
North American silver, copper, hides and furs, bringing them back for the manufacture of bronze and the marketing of
the furs. He feels that this secrecy is the reason Roman annals have no mention of the trans-Atlantic voyages. To date
no one has come forth with any direct confirmation of this hypothesis.
1.9.1.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
That part of Africa south of the Sahara and the Abyssinian massif was one of the five great remaining reservoirs of
savage or barbarian life. The other four areas were the monsoon forests of Southeast Asia with the islands of Indonesia,
the steppe and forest zones of northern Eurasia, Australia and finally the Americas. (Ref. 139 ([192]))
Forward to Africa: 500 to 401 B.C. (Section 1.10)
1.10 Africa: 500 to 401 B.C.17
1.10.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: 600 to 501 B.C. (Section 1.9)
1.10.1.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
Perhaps as early as this century the art of iron smelting was imported into Sudan from Egypt via Kush, which had
become an immensely rich country. The early inhabitants of Axum on the Ethiopian plateau south of Kush were
probably of mixed Asian and Negro origin, and they were joined about 500 B.C. by settlers from southern Arabia,
some of whom were apparently Jews. An Ethiopian-Jewish community, as well as a later Christian one, has existed
in Ethiopia18 up to the present time. From those contacts arose the legend that the Queen of Sheba bore a son by
Solomon, who became emperor of Ethiopia and founded the Solomaic Dynasty. (The Queen of Sheba, of course, lived
in the 10th century B.C.)
Egypt continued to be ruled by the Persians, with no advance in their own civilization except that their economic
isolation was eliminated and they did complete the Nile-Red Sea canal which had been begun by Necho. Apparently
the original Egyptian cotton was a poor product and linen from flax dominated Egyptian clothing. (Ref. 213 ([288]))
16 Herodotus
described the Phocaeans as plunderers and looters. (Ref. 92 ([136]), Book 1, pp. 89, 90)
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17737/1.2/>.
18 The word "Ethiopia" is Greek for "burnt-face". Actually this region was usually called "Abyssinia" until 1923. (Ref. 83 ([123]), 240 ([319]))
17 This
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
20
CHAPTER 1. AFRICA
The Egyptian science of previous centuries began to be picked up by Greeks who had colonies at Naucrates on the
Nile delta, with others along the coast towards Libya. All of this was further developed in the subsequent Hellenic
Culture. (Ref. 136 ([187]), 28 ([48]), 175 ([241]), 83 ([123]))
1.10.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
In addition to the Greek settlements along the Libyan coast there were Phoenician colonies all along the western half
of the North African shore from Leptis (east of Carthage) to the Pillars of Hercules. Carthage was rapidly developing
an empire of its own, controlling the old Tartessus area of Spain by 480 B.C. and later gaining all of the western half
of the African Mediterranean shore line. It was mentioned in the last chapter that at the end of that century Hanno, of
Carthage, had established a large colony down the Atlantic coast of Africa. Other writers have dated this colony, some
2,600 miles down the Atlantic, at 490 B.C., but in any event, archeologists have shown that Hanno was not the first, as
there were already ruins of a large megalithic city of Lixus, far south of Gibralter, just where the ocean current sweeps
past to go directly to the Gulf of Mexico. The Romans later called this ancient city the "Eternal City" or by a still
older name, "Sun City", as it was apparently built by sun-worshippers who included astronomers, architects, masons,
scribes and expert potters. The Sumerians, Assyrians, Hittites, Phoenicians, Egyptians and the Lixus people were all
fanatic sun-worshippers, just as were the Olmecs and the Mochica in Mexico and Peru, respectively. The Carthaginian
Himilco also continued his trips up to the northern shores of Europe to obtain tin for bronze . In his effort to find the
ultimate source of that metal, and avoid the Celtic middle men of France, Himilco finally found the channel islands
and then the coast of Britain, either at Cornwall or Devon, eventually to discover the tin mines of Cornwall. (Ref. 28
([48]), 136 ([187]), 95 ([140]), 66 ([97])) The Carthaginian position in the Mediterranean was weakened in 480 B.C.
when a large Carthaginian force suffered an humiliating defeat at the hands of Greek Syracusans in northern Sicily.
Carthage then seemed to also lose its former Etruscan ally, the city-state of Caere. Perhaps this occurred because Caere
had tried to establish a colony on the Atlantic island of Madeira as a means of interrupting the Carthaginian merchant
marine’s monopoly of the tin supply from Gaul and Cornwall. (Ref. 75 ([115]))
In addition to the civilized centers of Egypt, Kush and Carthage, the 4th century center of Cyrene, in present day east
Libya, must be mentioned. This was a Greek city, settled in the previous- century but which now dominated an entire
community area which was prosperous and cultured. (Ref. 83 ([123]))
1.10.1.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
The climate continued to deteriorate in the Sahara and life in the Akan jeir Culture of the Tichit Valley of southern
Mauretania was becoming progressively more difficult. In this century the areas of Ghana and Kanem began development, probably with the help of Berbers from the north, and with the economic foundation of the export of gold and
slaves. Excavations south of Lake Chad give evidence of people, stone and bone implements and cattle-raising at the
beginning of this century. (Ref. 83 ([123])) In Nigeria an iron industry developed on the Jos Plateau, and sculptured
heads and figurines in terracotta dating to 500 B.C. have been found near Nok, in that country. About the same time,
the Negroes, starting northwest of the rain forests, migrated down through the forest along the great rivers to the central part of the southern savannas and then spread out in all directions to the eastern part of the continent and toward
the south. They spoke the Bantu language, which is the ancestor of most African languages today. These men took
knowledge of mining and iron with them. (Ref. 45 ([66]), 8 ([14]), 175 ([241])) Hottentots and Bushmen still lived in
the far south.
Forward to Africa: 400 to 301 B.C. (Section 1.11)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
Intro to Era19
America (Section 2.10)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.10)
Europe (Section 4.10)
19 "500
to 401 B.C." <http://cnx.org/content/m17701/latest/>
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
21
5.
6.
7.
8.
The Far East (Section 6.10)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.10)
The Near East (Section 7.10)
Pacific (Section 8.10)
1.11 Africa: 400 to 301 B.C.20
1.11.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: 500 to 401 B.C. (Section 1.10)
1.11.1.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
Kush continued its prosperity with extensive trade routes. The ruins of both Napata and Meroe still stand today and
there are the remains of pyramids like those of Egypt but also Hellenistic pillars, Arabian arches and even hieroglyphs
with Hindu-like symbols, all suggesting a cosmopolitan atmosphere. Axum continued to exist still farther south. (Ref.
175 ([241]))
The Egyptians revolted successfully against the Persians under the 28th, 29th and 30th dynasties, but late in the century,
as we shall see, the Macedonian-Greek Alexander took over the old Persian territories, including Egypt. The city of
Alexandria was founded just before Alexander’s death in about 323 B.C. and there was soon accumulated there a great
research library containing perhaps 400,000 manuscripts in literature, mathematics, astronomy and medicine. Later,
as Alexander’s empire was divided, the Macedonian general, Ptolemy, took over Egypt and helped make it into a great
commercial nation.
1.11.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
A portion of what is now Libya went with Egypt as part of the Persian Empire and then later Alexander’s. Otherwise
the chief point of interest was Carthage which in- creased in population and power and participated in intermittent
wars with Sicily. Between 310 and 306 B.C. the navies of Carthage and the Sicilian Greeks were in a terrible conflict
with the Carthaginians gathering a great invasion force of about 1,500 vessels. In so doing, however, they had to
leave the gates of Hercules unguarded, thus making it possible for the first time in some years for the ships of other
Mediterranean nations to reach the Atlantic. (See WESTERN EUROPE, this chapter). To pay their soldiers, after
conquering Sicily, the Carthaginians engaged the finest Sicilian Greek artists to make dies for casting new SicilianCarthaginian coins, and these were soon circulating wherever the north Africans had business dealings.
In the post-Alexander period at the end of the century the Libyan Greeks of Cyrene became the major source of learned
men at the court of the Ptolemies in Alexandria. Cyrene exported chiefly horses and silphium, an herb used in Roman
cooking. (Ref. 66 ([97]), 211 ([284]))
1.11.1.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
By 300 B.C. permanent settlement in the Tichit Valley in the southwest Sahara had ended because of desiccation. The
Sudanese Negroes, stretching across the continent just south of the Sahara now had iron technology and with greater
population, better agricultural methods and possibly greater social cohesion, they were able to expand southward
throughout Africa at the expense of indigenous inhabitants whom they conquered, absorbed or displaced. In the early
centuries they confined themselves to the drier regions where their cereals could grow. These were the people known
in the east and south as "Bantu", although actually the name refers to their language, rather than to any particular tribe.
(Ref. 68, 45)
20 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17735/1.3/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
22
CHAPTER 1. AFRICA
Forward to Africa: 300 to 201 B.C. (Section 1.12)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era21
America (Section 2.11)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.11)
Europe (Section 4.11)
The Far East (Section 6.11)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.11)
The Near East (Section 7.11)
Pacific (Section 8.11)
1.12 Africa: 300 to 201 B.C.22
1.12.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: 400 to 301 B.C. (Section 1.11)
1.12.1.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
One thousand miles south of the Mediterranean (in what is now the Republic of Sudan) the Kingdom of Meroe
flourished through this period. At first the culture was Egyptian but later it developed a unique African character with
its main industry being iron working. It also had gold. This society was a successor to Kush, simply with a new capital
at Meroe. Still farther south was the Semitic Habashat Kingdom, established by migrating Yemenites, with a capital
at Axum. The local Cushites soon began to accept the language and customs of these Semites and the country began
to prosper, exporting ivory, tortoise shell, rhinoceros horn and finally gold, through the Red Sea. (Ref. 83 ([123]))
The real story of this corner of Africa, however, remained in Egypt. In spite of the Greek conquest of the previous
century most of Egypt remained Egyptian and there was a return to Egyptian political ideas. Ptolemy II (Philadelphus), reigning from 309 to 246 B.C. took the title of Pharaoh, the God-King, although personally he was a modest
man, intelligent and creative. Under him there was continued expansion along the Phoenician and Asia Minor coasts.
Ptolemy III (283 - 221) followed. An interesting aspect of Ptolemaic Egypt is its extensive experiment in state socialism. Although royal ownership of the land had long been a custom, the king now supervised all economic activity.
The government decided which fields were to be planted and with what, where crops were to be sold and for how
much. It regulated transportation, processing, manufacturing, trade and banking, sold abandoned babies and taxed
everything. From about 275 to 215 B.C. this system made the Ptolemies the richest Hellenistic rulers. This wealth
was lavished on the city of Alexandria which became the greatest trade center in the world and acted as a fusion center
for people of many religions, including a great number of Jews. The Alexandria Museum was actually a university,
engaged in research and records and a certain amount of teaching. During its active phase it helped to produce Euclid,
Eratosthenes, Apollinus, Hipparchus, Hero and Archimedes.
At this time the center of Greek medicine also shifted to Alexandria, with Herophilus, anatomist, and Erasistratus,
regarded by some as the founder of physiology. He distinguished between motor and sensory nerves, gave names to
the heart valves and studied arteries, veins and lymphatic ducts. Actually a number of different sects of medicine such
as Dogmatism, Empiricism, Methodism, Pneumatism and Eclecticism developed or radiated out from Alexandria.
One of the Dogmatists, Herophilos, was responsible for a number of human anatomical descriptions including various
parts of the brain, the intestinal tract, lymphatics, liver, genital organs, eye and the vascular system. The Museum
functioned at a high level for only a century, however, and after Ptolemy II it was swallowed up by the Egyptian
21 "400
22 This
to 301 B.C." <http://cnx.org/content/m17700/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17734/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
23
priestcraft. Attic-Greek was the language of education and administration. (Ref. 47 ([71]), 125 ([173]), 15 ([26]), 224
([299]))
The Alexandria library was more permanent. Included in the tremendous collection of some 700,000 volumes23 was
the "corpus Hippocratum" made up of some genuine Hippocratic writings but also treatises and notes of his pupils and
even some material from a rival medical school at Cnidus. Eratosthenes became librarian in 235 B.C. and became the
founder of the science of geography by making maps and conceiving the idea of projections. In 239 B.C. he calculated
the circumference of the earth at 28,000 miles, an error of only 13%. This means that a degree of latitude was thought
to be 60 miles, rather than the true 69 miles, an error not great enough to forestall ocean crossings with a fair degree
of certain landing. He based his calculations on the proposition that the earth was a sphere and that the sun’s rays for
practical purposes may be considered to be parallel. Longitude was calculated by dead reckoning. Eratosthenes also
reported that papyrus ships, with sails and rigging as on the Nile, sailed as far as the mouth of the Ganges and Ceylon,
taking perhaps twenty days to go from the former to the latter, thus averaging about 75 miles per day, a speed of more
than three knots an hour. (Ref. 15 ([26]), 65 ([96]), 66 ([97]), 95 ([140]))
Toward the end of the century radical decay set in, with bureaucratic corruption and slackness. As the century ended the
aggressive Syrian king, Antiochus III, defeated the child Ptolemy V and took the Mediterranean coastal possessions of
Palestine, Phoenicia and Asia Minor away from the Egyptian Dynasty. There is some indication that bubonic plague,
or something very similar, made its first appearance in Egypt and adjacent Libya in this century and then disappeared
again for another 800 years. (Ref. 140 ([190]))
1.12.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
Carthage was now the richest of the Mediterranean cities, trading in slaves, Egyptian linen, ivory, animal skins, Greek
pottery and wine, iron from Elba, copper from Cyprus, silver from Spain, tin from Britain and incense from Arabia.
Some Carthaginian planters occupying fertile land in Libya may have had as many as 20,000 slaves. (Ref. 222 ([296]))
In 261 B.C. Carthage supposedly had 1,500 ships with approximately 150,000 crewmen. This is to be compared with
the famous Spanish Armada of A.D. 1588 when Spain had 120 ships and 27,000 crew-men, Carthage soon reduced
Numidia to a series of vassal states and became the capital of a Semitic empire which spread all along north Africa as
well as in the islands of the Mediterranean and in Spain. Although the level of civilization was high in most respects,
some of their customs were barbaric, such as sacrificing living children to certain male and female gods. The details of
Carthage’s great struggles with Rome will be given in later sections under ITALY and SPAIN. It will suffice to say at
this time that at the end of the First Punic War a local revolution broke out in Carthage which raged for forty months.
And still Carthage bounced back to fight the greater Second Punic War with Rome. At the end of this second conflict,
when Hannibal was defeated by Scipio at the gates of the city, it was the beginning of the end of this great city-state,
although it struggled on until the middle of the next century. (Ref. 48 ([72]), 66 ([97]))
It is somewhat difficult for us today to grasp the magnitude of the Punic Wars. The First was marked by some of the
greatest sea battles in history. Consider the following, as collected from ancient historians by Fell (Ref. 66 ([97])):
Date
Name
Roman Ships
Carthage Ships
Carthage Losses
260 B.C.
Battle of Mylae
150 ships
150 ships
50 ships
256 B.C.
Battle of Economus
230 ships
230 ships
84 ships
255 B.C.
Battle pf Hermaean Cape
200 ships
200 ships
100 ships
242 B.C.
Battle of Aegates Island
200 ships
100 ships
100 ships
Total ships lost
334 ships
Table 1.1
23 Equal
to 50,000 modern books. (Ref. 15 ([26]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
24
CHAPTER 1. AFRICA
Each Carthaginian ship had a crew of at least 250 rowers, with 120 more officers and marines. The losses of men in
these great sea battles must have been staggering.
Another interesting fact about Carthage at this period is that their coins changed from silver to gold, but with just
a small amount of gold - the amalgam called "electrum" - at about 300 B.C. The design also changed to depict the
native Carthaginian goddess, Tanith, spouse of Bel. Based on findings since 1976 of alleged Carthaginian coins of this
period found in various north American sites, Fell (Ref. 66 ([97])) believes that the source of the Carthaginian gold
was America, obtained from Amerindians in bartering with bronze manufactures of the Cypriot Phoenicians. Such
bronze works are now held in storage rooms in Cuenca, Brazil, collected by Professor Paul Cheeseman. This region
was a former Inca northern capital, noted for burial hoards and underground valuables. Fell also believes that these
same North African mariners traded with North American Algonquin tribes for timber which they used for ships. After
the terrible naval defeats by Rome and the absence of a navy, trade with America was no longer profitable or even
possible.
1.12.1.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
In northern Nigeria the so-called Nok Culture has been identified with terra-cotta figurines, and evidence of iron slag
and tin-mining, dated by radio-carbon technique to about 300 B.C. Along the high cliffs of Bandiagara on the edge
of the Hombori Mountains near the bend of the Niger River in Mali, the Toloy people built granaries of mud coils
and stored them in giant caves in the cliffs, while their villages were probably on the plains below. (Ref. 251 ([17]))
Along the Congo River there were Stone Age gathers and fishermen about 270 B.C. In the east and south there was
a continued take-over by the Sudanese Negroes who were now called Bantu, after their language. (Ref. 45 ([66]), 8
([14]))
Forward to Africa: 200 to 101 B.C. (Section 1.13)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era24
America (Section 2.12)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.12)
Europe (Section 4.12)
The Far East (Section 6.12)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.12)
The Near East (Section 7.12)
Pacific (Section 8.12)
1.13 Africa: 200 to 101 B.C.25
1.13.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: 300 to 201 B.C. (Section 1.12)
1.13.1.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
In the southern part of this area Kush as well as Axum continued to flourish. About 200 B.C. Egypt lost all its acquisitions outside of continental Africa as the Ptolemaic armies were defeated by the Seleucids at Panion. The Macedonian
dynasty continued to reign, however, and their administrations promoted continued intellectual and commercial activity, particularly at Alexandria. The welding of Egypt and Syria onto the rejuvenated Ionic Greek world created a high
economic unit and allowed cities of the magnitude of ninety to one hundred and fifty thousand people to develop, the
24 "300
25 This
to 201 B.C." <http://cnx.org/content/m17699/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17733/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
25
first of these being, of course, Alexandria. By the end of the century the Egyptians were chafing under the Hellenic
Ptolemy ruling class, however, and eventually the Egyptian priesthood swallowed up the Ptolemies as they also destroyed the Aristotelian mentality of the Museum, and scientific energy was extinguished. (Ref. 46 ([76]), 28 ([48]),
206 ([83]))
1.13.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
Carthage recovered from the Second Punic War and regained considerable prosperity although it was subjected to
frequent raids from neighbors such as King Massinissa of the Numidians, who were the ancestors of the Berbers. In
151 B.C. Carthage finally declared war on Numidia (now primarily Algeria) and a year later Rome joined the battle,
initiating the Third Punic War. For three years Carthage valiantly withstood the Roman siege engineered by Scipio
Aemilianus, but the city finally fell and in 146 B.C. the Romans brutally plundered and burned it, possibly to prevent
its falling into the hands of the Numidians. (Ref. 83 ([123])) This pretty well terminated the old Phoenician Empire,
but the Punic cisterns remained and street plans were preserved and later used as patterns for Roman reconstruction.
After this last Punic War Massinissa’s son, Micipsa, ruled Numidia and remained an ally of Rome. Misipsa’s heirs
included a nephew, Jugurtha, along with his own two sons. By 116 B.C. Jugurtha had one of the sons assassinated
and had run off the other and taken his own case for control of Numidia before the Roman Senate. The latter gave
most of Numidia to Jugurtha except for the city of Cirta which was granted to the remaining son of Misipsa, Adherbal.
Jagurtha promptly set siege to Cirt, killing off all the inhabitants including some Roman business men, thus incensing
Rome and particularly the Equestrian business community. Armies were sent to North Africa once again, this time
against Numidia, but Jugurtha was not defeated until his father-in-law, Bocchus, King of Mauretania, was persuaded
by Lucius Cornelius Sulla to betray him. The African struggle ended in 105 B.C. with Jugurtha a prisoner and strangled
in Rome. The Romans then spread west from Carthage, also controlling Morocco. (Ref. 53 ([79]), 28 ([48]), 175
([241]))
Polybius, the Roman historian, regarded the North African Greeks as a people considerably different from those of
Greece, itself. They were olive-skinned and represented a fusion of Greek and North African natives. These were the
Libyans and they were devoted to the sea, living all along the North African coast from Cyrene next to Egypt, west to
Mauretania on the Atlantic. The area included not only what we now call Libya but also Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.
A long chain of ruined, once great, beautiful, marble and limestone cities now mark the places where these seafarers
once lived. When Libyan kings ruled Egypt their ships sailed to the Atlantic ports of Spain and Fell (Ref. 66 ([97]))
says to the Americas across the Atlantic and to the Pacific via the Indian Ocean and the Malacca Strait. The ancient
Libyans living west of Cyrene spoke a dialect of pre-classical Arabic containing many Berber loan words. According
to Fell’s hypotheses this may be the origin of the Arabic found in some American locations.
1.13.1.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
Radio-carbon datings from the walls and potsherds of the mud buildings in the Mali region caves of the Toloy people
indicate that they were still there in this century, but not subsequently. (Ref. 251 ([17])) This was an era of continued
Negro migrations down the entire continent. This gradual occupation of almost the whole of the arable soil of Africa
in the west by Negroes and of the east and south by the Bantu-speaking groups, overall took about 1,500 years, during
which time sub-Saharan Africa was largely cut off from the rest of the world.
Forward to Africa: 100 B.C. to 0 (Section 1.14)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
Intro to Era26
America (Section 2.13)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.13)
Europe (Section 4.13)
26 "200
to 101 B.C." <http://cnx.org/content/m17698/latest/>
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
26
CHAPTER 1. AFRICA
5.
6.
7.
8.
The Far East (Section 6.13)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.13)
The Near East (Section 7.13)
Pacific (Section 8.13)
1.14 Africa: 100 B.C. to 027
1.14.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: 200 to 101 B.C. (Section 1.13)
1.14.1.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
Meroe, now the Republic of Sudan, continued to flourish one thousand miles south of the Mediterranean and Axum
continued with some prosperity in the area of northern Abyssinia, now Ethiopia.
In the first part of this century Egypt remained under the Macedonian Ptolemy Dynasty but Caesar marched into the
country and took control between 48 and 47 B.C., making the famous alliance with Cleopatra, Egyptian queen. Upon
his death Cleopatra made a similar alliance and dalliance with Marc Antony and such was her apparent charm that in
37 B.C. Antony gave up all interest in his government and settled with the queen in Alexandria to a life of pleasure.
Stripped of his office by the Roman Senate and defeated at sea by Octavian, he committed suicide in 30 B.C. along
with Cleopatra. Egypt was then formally annexed to the Roman Empire under the Emperor Octavian, although the life
of the average Egyptian was probably little affected by these administrative changes. At the end of this century there
were about 8,000,000 people in this country.
1.14.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
Numidia, now Algeria, joined Carthage to become Roman during this century. The thick belt of megalithic tombs
which have been found across north Africa date to this and the next century and thus have no chronological relationship
to the similar but much more ancient ones of Europe. No explanation has been offered. The Roman historian, Sallust,
of this century, writes that the Libyans were descended from a people who came from Asia Minor and were allied to
the Phoenicians through their language. Arab historians have recorded similar beliefs. (Ref. 215 ([290]), 176 ([242]),
66 ([97])) Cyrene, with its large Greek component, became a province of Rome in 74 B.C. (Ref. 222 ([296])) In the
Sahara, itself, water holes had essentially disappeared and there was now truly desert. The great dunes called "ergs"
had formed and the rains had become most irregular.
1.14.1.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
There was no great change in the southern two-thirds of the continent. Iron working continued to spread at a slow pace
in the Niger Basin. The camel was introduced into the Sahara from Asia about 100 B.C. The Bantu speakers continued
their slow migration down the eastern lands. (Ref. 8 ([14])) One theory, based on archaeological and skeletal remains,
suggests that at about the end of the century a few of the Caucasoid pastoralists descended from the eastern highlands
into South Africa. From them some Bushmen acquired cattle and evolved into the culture of the Hottentots. (Ref. 83
([123]))
Forward to Africa: 0 to A.D. 100 (Section 1.15)
Choose Different Region
1. Intro to Era28
27 This
28 "100
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17732/1.2/>.
B.C. to 0" <http://cnx.org/content/m17697/latest/>
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
27
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
America (Section 2.14)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.14)
Europe (Section 4.14)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.14)
The Near East (Section 7.14)
Pacific (Section 8.14)
1.15 Africa: 0 to A.D. 10029
1.15.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: 100 B.C to 0 (Section 1.14)
1.15.1.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
In the south of this region the kingdom of Meroe continued its iron-making and gold production, unmolested. The
kingdom of Axum in north Ethiopia and southwestern Arabia now became a strong empire, with a capital city of the
same name and Adulis (now Massawa) as the Red Sea port and with a wealth founded on ivory. Axum was a pagan
city of palaces and temples which now had many Jew30 and Greek immigrants. The country had many Greek insignias
and a Greek educated king. (Ref. 45 ([66]), 175 ([241]), 83 ([123]))
Egypt continued under Roman rule. In Alexandria the Jewish population increased reaching perhaps to 40% of the
total of the city. Among those was the Jewish philosopher and theologian, Philo, who developed the Logos ideas of the
Greek Stoics into a concept which has come straight down through the centuries in the Christian theology. "God, in
Philo’s writings, is the essential being of the world, incorporeal, eternal, indescribable; reason can know his existence,
but can ascribe no quality to him–."31 In order to create the world and establish relations with man, Philo felt that
God used a group of intermediary beings. While these had been called diamones by some Greeks and Ideas by Plato,
they were called angels by the Jews. Although popularly conceived as persons, Philo thought they existed only in the
Divine Minds as the thoughts and powers of God, such powers as the Stoics called Logos, which created and then
guided the world. "Philo sometimes thinks of the Logos as a person. In a poetic moment he called the Logos ’The
first-begotten of God’, son of God by the virgin Wisdom, and says that through the Logos God has revealed himself
to man. Since the soul is part of God, it can through reason rise to a mystic vision, not quite of God, but of Logos32 .
Durant (Ref. 48 ([72])) felt that Philo’s Logos was one of the most influential ideas in the history of thought, although
its antecedents in Heracleitus, Plato and the Stoics are obvious. "Philo was a contemporary of Christ, but he apparently
never heard of him although he shared unknowingly in forming Christian theology. Philo tried to mediate between
Hellenism and Judaism. From the Judaic point of view he failed; from the historical point of view he succeeded, and
the result was the first chapter of the Gospel of John”.33
During the period of the Roman administration of Egypt the irrigation systems were raised to great efficiency. While
the government remained Roman, the people remained Egyptian (and Jewish in the cities). Additional Notes (p. 28)
1.15.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
Roman Carthage was the capital of proconsular Africa and second only to Rome, itself, in the western Mediterranean.
It became a center for education and soon a strong- hold for early Christianity. Plutarch, living in this century, allegedly
described voyages of the Carthaginians to North America (Epeiros, in his language) via Iceland (Ogygia) and a return
route following the anti-trade winds around latitude 40 degrees north, back to Spain and Carthage. Diodorus of Sicily
29 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17731/1.2/>.
Falasha of today are the descendants of these Jews (Ref. 83 ([123]))
31 As quoted from Durant (Ref. 48 ([72])), page 501
32 The translations of these ancient writing are those of Fell (Ref. 86 ([129])), page 54, and to my knowledge not otherwise confirmed
33 Quotation taken from Durant (Ref. 48 ([72])), page 502
30 The
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
28
CHAPTER 1. AFRICA
described a southern route when he spoke of the discovery of an island by Carthaginians which may have been Cuba.
(Ref. 84 ([124]), 66 ([97]))
The ruler of Mauretania (northern Morocco and western Algeria), another Ptolemy, was murdered in A.D. 40 on the
order of the Roman Caligula, but it did not destroy the Berber spirit of independence and they never completely gave
up to the Romans. The dromedary, one-hump camels first were brought to the Sahara in this century but they were not
used to any great extent for another seven hundred years with the Arab invasion. (Ref. 260 ([29]))
1.15.1.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
In West Africa on the inland delta of the great Niger River there existed at this time, and probably it had existed for over
two hundred years, the village of Jenne-jeno, which has just recently been excavated. Situated only about 300 miles
up river from Timbuktu it is probable that even in this early time there were beginning trade relationships by water.
Pottery in use through this period was of a design seen several centuries earlier in the southern Sahara, indicating that
the original population may have originated there. We shall hear much more about this community which did not
reach its peak of development until about A.D. 100. (Ref. 268 ([189]))
Madagascar had probably been unknown to men until about the time of Christ, when Indonesians arrived with outrigger canoes and eventually sails. Beginning in this century these sea-farers brought "wet-zone" crops like the Asian
and Coco yams and banana to Madagascar and thus to East Africa34 . Madagascar had probably been unknown to men
until about the time of Christ, when the Indonesians arrived with out-rigger canoes and eventually sails. With their new
crops the Negroes found it possible to start moving into the humid forests and low-lying river valleys, thus beginning
the settlement of more central Africa. The Bantu-speaking people continued their slow migration down the east coast
of Africa. There was iron smelting in Kenya by A.D. 100. (Ref. 222 ([296]))
Forward to Africa: A.D. 101 to 200 (Section 1.16)
Choose Different Region
Intro to Era35
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.15)
Europe (Section 4.15)
The Far East (Section 6.15)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.15)
The Near East (Section 7.15)
Pacific (Section 8.15)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
NOTE : From this century on until the 19th century first the Aksumite and then the Christian Amhara were
expansionist, seizing land and incorporating people. (Ref. 311 ([40]))
1.16 Africa: A.D. 101 to 20036
1.16.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: 0 to A.D. 100 (Section 1.15)
34 Hallett
(Ref. 83 ([123])) puts this at the 4th century C.E.
to A.D. 100" <http://cnx.org/content/m17696/latest/>
36 This content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17745/1.2/>.
35 "0
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
29
1.16.1.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
The kingdoms of Meroe and Axum continued to develop. (See page 292) Egypt was under the rule of the Roman
emperor, but beyond the mouth of the Nile, the country was actually little touched by Romanization. The royal custom
of brother-sister marriage had been copied by the lower classes, and it has been estimated that by this century twothirds of the citizens of Arsinoe were off spring of sibling unions. Alexandria was now a great trade center containing
some 500,000 people, receiving goods from Red Sea ports and exporting its own manufactured products such as linen,
processed Arabian drugs, Indian perfumes, papyrus, glass-ware and Egyptian grain. This city which originally was
one of the greatest of the Greek cities, gradually became more and more oriental. Strife between Greeks and Jews
resulted in massacres; soldiers mutinied and taxes soared.
Ptolemy, or Claudius Ptolemaeus37 , was a great scientist concerned with the Alexandrian library in this century. Inspired by Hipparchus, who appeared to have provided one of the links between Babylonian and Greek science, Ptolemy
wrote a mathematical treatise which became known as the Almagest. The 360 degree circle of the Babylonians was
used, trigonometry was promoted and astronomy advanced, although with some errors. With 1,002 stars catalogued
the heaven was considered spherical and as rotating around the immobile earth sphere. This concept made Ptolemy’s
theories very acceptable to the theologians of the later Middle Ages. He did have a system showing relationships
of stars and planets which was effective from the practical standpoint. He also wrote a Geographical Treatise which
included the geography of Marinus of Tyre. (Ref. 48 ([72]))
1.16.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
North Africa remained the granary of Rome, with the Moors as the dominant people of the area now developing considerable sea-power and prestige. The Moors were of Berber origin (later with an Arab mixture) and came originally
from south of Morocco in the country of present Mauretania, on the great Atlantic bulge of Africa. In about A.D. 125
a locust invasion destroyed large areas of cropland and this was followed by a plague which killed perhaps 500,000 in
Numidia and possibly 150,000 more on the coast. (Ref. 222 ([296]))
1.16.1.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
The changes in central, eastern and southern Africa were very slow. As noted in the last chapter, the introduction of
wet zone crops like the yam and banana allowed better penetration of the Bantu-speaking blacks into the forest and
low-lying river valleys and coastal plains. They also continued to drift south along the Indian Ocean coast. (Ref. 68
([106]))
Forward to Africa: A.D. 201 to 300 (Section 1.17)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era38
America (Section 2.16)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.16)
Europe (Section 4.16)
The Far East (Section 6.16)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.16)
The Near East (Section 7.16)
Pacific (Section 8.16)
37 Not
to be confused with the pharoahs of the B.C. centuries
101 to 200" <http://cnx.org/content/m17708/latest/>
38 "A.D.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
30
CHAPTER 1. AFRICA
1.17 Africa: A.D. 201 to 30039
1.17.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: A.D. 101 to 200 (Section 1.16)
1.17.1.1 NORTHEASTERN AFRICA
The kingdom of Kush fell prey to desert nomads but in Ethiopia Axum continued as a powerful, well developed entity.
Coins were minted and much of the Sudan to the west was conquered. Ivory, rhinoceros horn, hippopotamus hides
and slaves were all exported through the Red Sea harbor of Adulis. Unfortunately even at this early period excessive
rains with flooding, along with forest clearing and cultivation of hilltops and slopes had started soil erosion that was
to eventually be part of the downfall of this unusual kingdom. (Ref. 175 ([241]), 270 ([36]))
Egyptian prestige40 began to decline under destructive factionalism, a massacre of all adult males capable of bearing
arms (by Emperor Caracalla) to prevent revolt, high taxes, listless forced labor and Rome’s annual exaction of grain.
Sea trade from the Mediterranean went principally up the Nile to Thebes, then over to the Red Sea and on by boat. The
refurbished Nile-Red Sea canal was a disappointment to the Romans (as it had been to the Ptolemies and the Persians)
because winds in the northern Red Sea were unreliable and merchants did better with the Nile to Thebes route. At the
last of the century (266 to 272), Queen Zenobia’s conquering of Egypt and siege of Alexandria resulted in the death of
half the population and helped Egypt’s decline. (See IRAQ AND SYRIA, below) In A.D. 272 Egypt was reconquered
by Rome. (Ref. 136 ([187]))
1.17.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWESTERN AFRICA
Rome continued to dominate the coast line of north Africa, but in the far northwest Moorish (chiefly Berber) culture
and activity increased with expansion of the territory they controlled. The cities of the Sahara had a flourishing
commerce with coastal cities, probably sending precious stones, slaves and ivory for trade. (Ref. 83 ([123]))
1.17.1.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
At this time there was the beginning of the development of the Empire of Ghana at the northern curve of the Niger
River. The village of Jenne-jeno, which we have previously mentioned, may have been a part of this process. On the
east the iron and cattle cultures spread almost completely to the southern tip of Africa. Blackburn was established
in A.D. 105 and the use of iron spread from the Funa River (off the Congo) to Katanga and the Lakes region. In
the southwest, the Khoikoi peoples, speaking the Khoisan language, only slowly gave way to the aggressive Bantuspeakers. Indonesian traders appeared in increasing numbers along the east coast in this and the following centuries.
Forward to Africa: A.D. 301 to 400 (Section 1.18)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era41
America (Section 2.17)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.17)
Europe (Section 4.17)
The Far East (Section 6.17)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.17)
The Near East (Section 7.17)
Pacific (Section 8.17)
39 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17746/1.2/>.
a Greek of Alexandria, wrote a treatise of algebra, solving determinant quadratic and indeterminate equations up to the 6th degree,
in about A.D. 250.
41 "A.D. 201 to 300" <http://cnx.org/content/m17709/latest/>
40 Diophantus,
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
31
1.18 Africa: A.D. 301 to 40042
1.18.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: A.D. 201 to 300 (Section 1.17)
1.18.1.1 NORTHEASTERN AFRICA
In the region of Sudan the old Kushite Kingdom had been replaced by the Kingdom of Meroi, although the basic population remained a Kush people. The new kingdom had a unique African character but it did not thrive long, apparently
conquered sometime between 320 and the end of the century by neighboring Axum of northern Ethiopia. The name
"Kush" now disappeared, to be replaced by "Nubia". The Nobatae, coming from Kordofan and the Blemmyes (Bela)
coming from the Nile Valley to the east, blended with the old Kushites to form the population of medieval Nubia.
Before Christianity came to this area there are indications that this was, in modern terminology, a "swinging place".
Remnants of a large tavern constructed in the middle of the century at Ibrim indicate that the wine flowed freely up
to about A.D. 500. (Ref. 271 ([7]), 83 ([123])) The populous Axum had adopted the Monophysite Christian faith and
this new religion was the foundation of the kingdom which was soon to be called Abyssinia. By 362 this kingdom
also included a portion of the southern Arabian area. A distinguishing feature of Axum was the use of stone-masonry
without mortar. There is still standing a 23 meter high obelisk, simulating a nine-story palace, constructed in this 4th
century when this state was considered one of the four world powers. (Ref. 270 ([36])) The Axum emperor, King
Ezana, had been converted to Monophysitism by the Syrian Frumentius who had originally been shipwrecked on the
Red Sea coast.
The resulting Ethiopian Orthodox Church, actually a branch of the Egyptian Coptic, spread over the highland of north
Ethiopia. (Ref. 8 ([14]), 175 ([241]))
In Egypt there was political and cultural decline. Christianity made many converts along the coast but of the Monophysite variety. This sect believed that there was only one nature in God and Jesus, with a complete denial of the
Trinity. This faith survives today in some eastern areas and, as suggested above, particularly in Ethiopia. Arianism,
another great "heresy" which was mentioned above, also originated in Alexandria. In contrast to the dogma of the
Monophysites, Arius preached that Christ was not one with God but rather the Logos (See Philo, page 297), the first
and highest of all created beings. The Son was neither coeternal with nor consubstantial with the Father. Politically,
Egypt remained nominally under the Roman Empire, even as it began to collapse. A popular literature in the Coptic
language appeared in this century. (Ref. 48 ([72]), 127 ([176]))
1.18.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
The coast line of North Africa remained subject to Roman control as the Christian faith spread across the area. As
in the last century, in the west the Berber-Moors became more and more prolific and independent. Although camels
had been present in Africa previously they now came into extensive use by the Berbers, a feature which helped them
to become formidable opponents to all foreigners along the coast. In the 370s Firmus, a Moorish chieftain, rebelled
against the Roman Valentian I and was stopped only after a series of massacres. (Ref. 127 ([176]), 83 ([123]))
1.18.1.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
There was very little significant change from the last century. In the west the Empire of Ghana continued its development, while all along the east coast the Bantu-speakers expanded and more Indonesian traders appeared bringing the
Asian yam and taro from Southeast Asia. The latest estimate of the time of the establishment of Great Zimbabwe by
Bantu-speaking blacks is A.D. 320 (150 years). These were the Gokomere people and they may either have lived there
or simply used it as a camp. There is some evidence that they had iron. (Ref. 176 ([242]), 8 ([14]), 83 ([123]), 222
([296]))
42 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17748/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
32
CHAPTER 1. AFRICA
Forward to Africa: A.D. 401 to 500 (Section 1.19)
1.19 Africa: A.D. 401 to 50043
1.19.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: A.D. 301 to 400 (Section 1.18)
1.19.1.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
Ethiopia continued to be a Christian area in communication with southern Arabia and Egypt. Axum expansion in the
first half of the century was followed by a period of stagnation in the last half although Byzantine missionaries and
traders continued to visit the region. Nominally under Axumite control, Nubia apparently was not really Christianized
in this century. The religious and political confusion of this period is apparent in four papyri recently discovered
at Qasr Ibrim. Three were written in Sahidic Coptic and the fourth in provincial Greek. The Coptic ones were all
addressed to Tantani, Governor of Nubia and apparently Christian. The Greek document is from a pagan king of the
Blemmyes to the king of Noubades and refers to a former supreme king of Nubia, called Silco. (Ref. 270 ([36]), 271
([7]))
Nominally still under control of Rome, Egyptic Society, according to Toynbee (Ref. 220 ([294])), became extinct in
this century leaving no "off-spring" in any subsequent society, to date. The little intellectual activity that remained in
the remnants of the Roman Empire was now centered in Byzantium, but considerable religious maneuvering continued
in Alexandria. Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria, and later one of the two or three St. Cyrils, led a great struggle against
Nestorianism which finally culminated in the Council of Ephesus in 431. Cyril presided and had the support of Pope
Celestine 1. His doctrines, although considered orthodox at the time, were actually in part those of Monophysitism
and after him this became the national faith of Egypt - eventually the Coptic Church. (Ref. 220 ([294]), 48 ([72]))
1.19.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
In contrast to Egypt this part of Africa was a very busy place. In the far west Morocco was invaded and conquered
by Berbers coming from the southwest, and then they even attacked the Roman holdings, using newly domesticated
camels. In 427 Bonifatius, Roman military commander in north Africa, was about to be cut out of command by
enemies in the emperor’s court in Ravenna, so he rebelled and called upon the Vandals of Spain to come to his aid. In
the following year, Asding Vandals from Spain did go to north Africa, sailing with a large fleet under King Gaiseric
who proceeded to conquer most of north Africa, eventually even Carthage (A.D. 455) and then Sardinia, Corsica and
the western part of Sicily. The total number of Vandals leaving Spain was probably not over 80,000 but they had the
advantage of local social unrest and the cooperation of Bonifatius and thus met little local resistance. Many Berbers
and the Donatist heretic group of Christians with about one-half of their bishops also helped the invaders against the
Romans. The Donatists were the followers of the once Bishop of Carthage, Donatus, who denied the efficacy of
sacraments administered by priests who were themselves in a state of sin, and the Church, willing to risk so much on
the virtues of the clergy, repudiated the idea.
As a result of their persecution the Donatists became bands of revolutionists, at once both Christian and communist,
condemning poverty and slavery and ending in fanaticism, happy to help the Vandals, who were Arian Christians.
Once Gaiseric had obtained Carthage he used the facilities there to greatly augment his navy and subsequently was
able to actually sack Rome, itself. Barry Fell (Ref. 66 ([97])) believes that some orthodox Christians actually sailed to
North America at this time to escape the Vandals. According to Herodotus, the Garamantes of Fezzan in the desert had
horse-drawn chariots, probably obtained from Egypt. (Ref. 206 ([83]), 8 ([14]), 127 ([176]), 137 ([188]), 83 ([123]))
Among the more orthodox Christians of North Africa was St. Augustine, who had become converted from paganism
and sin as a youth and who later wrote extensive theological dissertations rationalizing the religion and establishing
43 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17749/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
33
many Catholic doctrines, as he introduced some element of Greek philosophy into Christianity. It was mentioned in
the last chapter that Thomas (Ref. 213 ([288])) considers him one of the four great "fathers" of the Catholic church.
He was killed during one of the Vandals’ sieges.
1.19.1.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
In the Sudan, the roots of the great African Kingdom of Ghana may date back to A.D. 400. Certainly the town of
Jenne-Jeno was prospering at the inland delta of the Niger. The eroded foundation of a house has been excavated
along with pottery and urns for burial and remains of a wall about three meters wide and four or more meters high
that girded the city. All of these things have been dated to this or the next century or two. In central Africa there was
continued proliferation of the black people, particularly the Bantu-speakers. (Ref. 268 ([189]), 154 ([212]))
Forward to Africa: A.D. 501 to 600 (Section 1.20)
1.20 Africa: A.D. 501 to 60044
1.20.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: A.D. 401 to 500 (Section 1.19)
1.20.1.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
There were three separate Christian kingdoms in the region of Nubia in the middle Nile. At Ibrim an old temple, which
was originally built probably during the Ethiopian Dynasty of Egypt in the 7th century B.C. and then modified later
with typical Meriotic graffiti and votive inscriptions, was now made into the earliest of Ibrim Christian churches. A
defensive wall around the church is now partially covered by Lake Nasser. (Ref. 271 ([7]))
Early Abyssinians were active militarily, invading the Yemeni kingdoms on the Arabian Peninsula. In the middle of
the century Axum was at the height of its power with a splendid court boasting royal elephants and gold. The capital
city funneled materials from inner Africa to a maritime network reaching as far as Spain and even China. Axum
covered an area of 75 hectares and contained many multistory stone buildings with 10,000 to 20,000 inhabitants and a
fringe of suburban, elite villages. (Ref. 270 ([36])) But the downfall of this country started when the Persians expelled
the Axumites from south Arabia as a part of the Byzantine-Persian Wars. This was followed by raids by pagan Bela
on the farmlands, so that gradually the people moved deeper into the highlands, merging with the pagan and Judaized
people there and becoming the Abyssinians proper, the nucleus of later Ethiopia. (Ref. 82 ([121]), 83 ([123]))
Egypt continued to decay, politically and intellectually. Part of this was promoted by the decline in the incense trade
which had previously come from the south, in part through Egypt. The country remained nominally under the control
of the Byzantine Empire.
1.20.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
The Vandal kingdom of North Africa was reconquered for the Byzantine Empire by Justinian’s General Belisarius in
533. Otherwise North Africa remained much as in the last century. (Ref. 8 ([14]))
1.20.1.2.1 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
In the tropical regions the availability of iron after A.D. 500 led to the development of kingdoms whose chief weapons
were iron spears. A few Negroid Bantu-speakers filtered into the Bushman and Hottentot domains in South Africa.
(Ref. 213 ([288]), 83 ([123]))
Forward to Africa: A.D. 601 to 700 (Section 1.21)
44 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17750/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
34
CHAPTER 1. AFRICA
1.21 Africa: A.D. 601 to 70045
1.21.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: A.D. 501 to 600 (Section 1.20)
1.21.1.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
The Ethopian upland soils had been largely destroyed, exposing underlying rocks. In the middle of the century,
threatened by Muslim neighbors, Axum lost its Red Sea ports and had its gold supply cut off so its Christians retreated
to the highlands, where they remained in isolation until the 15th century. Abandoned buildings deteriorated and
contributed to the soil destruction. Land abandonment can be as destructive as over-use and there can be little doubt
that all this exacerbated Axumite economic decline. (Ref. 270 ([36]))
To the west in Nubia, Coptic Christians thrived. After an Egyptian attack in 651-652 relations between Christian Nubia
and Moslem Egypt were formalized by treaty which included an agreement that Nubians would return all runaway
slaves to Egypt. A cathedral was built about A.D. 700 in Qasr Ibrim and there were plans to make this a pilgrimage
center. Nubia hereafter remained Christian for about 700 years. Just north of the present-day Aswan Dam, the survival
of paganism into this 7th century on the island of Philae had been a notable scandal stimulating Byzantine missions
into the area. (Ref. 271 ([7]))
Egypt fell to the Persians temporarily in 616 but fell again to the Arabs later in the century, with Alexandria conquered by the latter in 660. The Monophysite Christians of Egypt actually helped the Moslems overthrow the existing
administration. After the conquest, Amr ruled for the Arabs and did so well. (Ref. 206 ([83]), 137 ([188]))
1.21.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
In the last third of the century the raiding Moslems easily took Tripolitania but on their original drive westward they
were repulsed from Tunisia by Roman Empire troops. Subsequently, however, conversion of the indigenous Berbers46
to Islam in 696 gave Islam a new push and the Byzantine forces in Tunisia were then overrun and Carthage was
destroyed again. Soon Morocco also fell to the Islamic onslaught. Shortly thereafter trade routes for slaves, ivory and
gold opened up between Morocco-Algeria and the western Sudan. The Murabits (also Almoravids) of Morocco turned
south, shattering the Negro Empire of Ghana.
The Berbers were of an entirely different race from the Arabs, having roundish heads contrasting with the Arabs’ long
heads. Even when some were initially converted to Islam, allowing the Moslem advance, most of the Berbers retreated
to the naked mountains dividing Tunisia’s coastal plains from the desert. Even so, the Muslims made a greater impact
on these people than Rome or Christianity had previously done. (Ref. 137 ([188]), 175 ([241]), 58 ([86]), 83 ([123]),
222 ([296]))
1.21.1.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
From 500 to 1,200 ancient Ghana, in what is now Mali, monopolized the gold trade from west Africa to Europe. It sat
at the southern end of the trans-Saharan caravan routes and thus acted as the hub. Kumbi Saleh was a city of 15,000
people. The excavated ruins of the ancient city of Jenne-Jeno had a formidable three meter-wide wall surrounding
it which was constructed sometime between 400 and 800. Delicately constructed gold jewelry has been found under
this city wall, indicating that this was a trade center over a long period of time. The nearest gold mines were 800
kilometers south of this developing city. (Ref. 268 ([189])) The Moslem invasion of Ghana from the north caused
some disruption in administration certainly, but did not destroy the fundamental culture or the developing cities.
45 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17752/1.2/>.
is an Arab word meaning "barbarian"
46 "Berber"
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
35
In the far southeast of Africa the Leopard’s Kopje people, a Bantu-speaking group, were in control of Great Zimbabwe
from about A.D. 600 to 850. (Ref. 45 ([66])) Elsewhere the great bulk of Africa remained as in previous centuries.
Forward to Africa: A.D. 701 to 800 (Section 1.22)
1.22 Africa: A.D. 701 to 80047
1.22.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: A.D. 601 to 700 (Section 1.21)
1.22.1.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
In the last chapter we told of the collapse of Axum. Apparently as a last gasp. the Axumites made an unsuccessful
attack on Mecca in A.D. 702 which was followed by Arab retaliation and Butzer (Ref. 270 ([36])) says that it was
at that time that the port of Adulis was destroyed and many Red Sea islands seized. At the same time the Christian
monarchy had to withstand ravaging attacks by pagan Beja. (Ref. 83 ([123])) After 765 Axum was almost completely
abandoned.
The horn of Africa was not affected by the Bedouin Arabs, but the people there still retained close ties with Arabia.
Of the three kingdoms of the middle Nile which had originated in the 6th century, the two northern ones now merged
to form the Kingdom of Nubia, with a capital at Dongola, exerting its influence from the 1st to the 4th cataract of the
Nile and west to Darfur. The country was Christian, prosperous and used a highly decorative pottery and developed a
lucrative slave trade to Egypt. There was a gradual peaceful infiltration of Moslem Arabs into the area. Farther south
at the confluence of the Nile was the Kingdom of Alwa, with its capital at Soba. It resisted the Moslem faith a little
longer. (Ref. 83 ([123]), 271 ([7]))
Egypt was entirely under Moslem Arab control with supervision direct from the caliph in Damascus and later Baghdad.
1.22.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
This entire region was now under Moslem control, subject to the caliph in the Middle East. As mentioned in the last
chapter, the Berbers of Tunisia and Morocco adopted Islam as they had previously adopted Christianity: with neither
was it a total embracement and they, in addition, clung also to older tribal beliefs. Although called "Berbers" by the
Arabs they called themselves "Imazighen", "Men of the Land", and their tongue, totally unlike the official Arabic, was
Tamazight, still spoken today. (Ref. 104) The great Roman ports all over the Mediterranean were allowed to decline.
Although they could sail the Indian Ocean, the Arabs ignored Mediterranean shipping routes and went overland with
of central Tunisia, was the administrative center for the Arab Empire in the Maghrib. (Ref. 83 ([123]))
Although the Omayyad Dynasty controlled the entire Moslem world in the first half of the century, as was intimated
above, the Abbasids took over in A.D. 750 with Caliph Harun al Rashid establishing a capital at Baghdad. By A.D.
788 Morocco had declared its independence from Baghdad and Tunisia followed just after the turn of the new century.
The new Moroccon Empire was to last over a millennium. (Ref. 8 ([14]), 222 ([296]))
1.22.1.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
About A.D. 700 people from the upper Nile moved into Chad, just east of Nigeria, and established a string of cities.
At about the same time traders were becoming ever more daring in crossing the Sahara to obtain gold and slaves. The
increasing use of camels greatly facilitated this traffic and the traffic, in turn, seemed to monopolize the supply of gold
and slaves and thus developed more systematic and larger operations. Ghana seems to have come under the control of
a new dynasty in this century and this may have been the transfer of authority from Berber to Negro rulers.
47 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17753/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
36
CHAPTER 1. AFRICA
Merchants of south Arabia, the Persian Gulf and northwestern India had long traded along the east African coast for
palm oil, ivory, tortoise shell, rhinoceros horn and slaves. Finally some of the Asians settled in east Africa and they
were soon joined by religious refugees from Oman and Shirax on the Persian Gulf . These Asians were responsible
for the beginning of a chain of independent settlements all along the coast. They became city-states and because Arab
shipping soon supplanted earlier traffic, all soon became Moslem. Excavations on the shore of Lake Kisale in northern
Katanga (between Angola and the Great Lakes) indicate that in this 8th century there was a dense population using
fine pottery and elaborate copper jewelry. This may be the original home of the Luba people (Ref. 83 ([123]))
The population on Madagascar now included Indonesians, Arabs and Negroes, the later probably originally slaves or
concubines. The Negroes multiplied more rapidly, probably because of greater resistance to malaria, but there was
much intermarriage and soon a unique "Malagasy" people emerged. (Ref. 83 ([123]))
The central rain forest of Africa and the semi-arid south remained untouched by civilized men, although the Bantuspeaking tribesmen continued to spread their settlements through the forest of the Congo basin and still farther south.
The Leopard’s Kopje people were still in control of Zimbabwe. (Ref. 139 ([192]), 176 ([242]))
Forward to Africa: A.D. 801 to 900 (Section 1.23)
1.23 Africa: A.D. 801 to 90048
1.23.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: A.D. 701 to 800 (Section 1.22)
1.23.1.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
The old Axum monarchy established a new residence deep in the interior of Ethiopia around Lake Hayq sometime
before A.D. 870. This was actually a Christian monastery with some 300 clerics. The old Axumite area was given up
entirely to invading sheep herders. (Ref. 270 ([36])) Nubia remained essentially as in the last century.
Egypt was a Moslem state but independently ruled by the Tulunid Dynasty. These men were Turkish in origin, having
been brought into Islam as professional soldiers. One of them, Ahmad ibn Tulun (869-884) conquered Syria to add
to his realm. Egypt, as the ancient granary for southern Europe, no long robbed of its products by foreign masters,
entered upon a minor renaissance, with new learning and art, palaces, public baths, a hospital and a great mosque
honoring Tulun.
1.23.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
All of the original Moslem provinces in north Africa were now more or less independent with separate rulers. After
800 Tunisia was ruled by the Aghlabid Dynasty until the end of the century when they were overthrown by the Kotama,
a Berber tribe from Kabylia. Morocco, under the Idrisids, had founded a Shi’ite caliphate in 789 which had carried
on into this century. Still farther west, just on the Mediterranean side of the Straits of Gibralter, were the Rostemids.
(Ref. 137 ([188]), 8 ([14])) (Please see map in connection with CENTRAL EUROPE, this chapter.)
There were three major trade routes across the Sahara at this time. One went from Fezzan to Kanem, running north
of Lake Chad; a second went from Gao, on the Niger bend, to central Maghrib; and the third ran from the western
Maghrib to Ghana. (Ref. 83 ([123]))
48 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17754/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
37
1.23.1.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
Commerce across the Sahara brought gold and slaves to the Mediterranean and stimulated the early Negro states of the
sub-Saharan regions. Ghana had few natural resources of its own and its wealth was derived from levies imposed on
this trade across the desert. We have seen in previous chapters how Jenne-jeno developed as a trade center on the Niger.
By 800 it had perhaps 10,000 people and an extensive riverine trade with the Timbuktu region. (Ref. 268 ([189])) To
the Arabs, the ruler of Ghana was reputed to be the richest and most powerful monarch in all the Biladas-Sudan (Land
of Blacks). Around
Lake Chad the empire of Kanem-Bornu developed about the beginning of this 9th century and survived for a millenium.
This kingdom, founded by Zaghawa nomads, was originally only one of the seven Hausa city-states, each protected
by strong city walls and excelling as manufacturers and long distance merchants. (Ref. 68 ([106]), 175 ([241]))
On the east coast of Africa a great wave of trading activity swept the countries bordering the Indian Ocean, resulting
in a string of city-states along that coast, most of them founded by Muslims from the Persian Gulf and some from
southern Arabia. Bantu-speaking Negroes soon joined them to produce a distinct culture and language (Swahili).
Farther south in Zimbabwe, the Shona and particularly the Karangas sub-group, continued in this century to develop
agriculture, stock raising, gold and copper trading and the building of large stone edifices. They probably originally
came from iron-rich Katanga and had an advanced knowledge of iron mining and metallurgy. They soon became the
overlords of the indigenous Gokomere and Leopard’s Kopje people as the Rhodesian plateau became a beehive of
gold, copper and iron production. The products went to the Arab merchants on the coast. The Shona civilization lasted
until A.D. 1500. (Ref. 175 ([241]), 176 ([242]), 45 ([66]))
Forward to Africa: A.D. 901 to 1000 (Section 1.24)
1.24 Africa: A.D. 901 to 100049
1.24.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: A.D. 801 to 900 (Section 1.23)
1.24.1.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
The off-shore islands of Ethiopia thrived on the export of Abyssinian slaves. Some apparently escaped to settle in
Danakil and Somali, there to intermarry and become converted to Islam. Inland royal power was assumed in the
mountain region of Lasta sometime after A.D. 940 by a non-Semitic Zagwe Dynasty. While these people became
Christianized, Semitic farmers expanded southward along the forested spine of Ethiopia to modern Addis Ababa. At
the same time Sidama tribesmen invaded from south and east. (Ref. 83 ([123]), 270 ([36]))
In 905 the Turkish Tulunid Dynasty of Egypt gave way to the Ikhshidids who, in turn, were again subject to the
Abbasid caliphate of Damascus although this domination was short lived as the empire began to split. At the end
of the century the Fatimids moved in from northwestern Africa to take control of Egypt. They were a branch of the
Isma’ilites, claiming descent from Mohammed’s daughter, Fatima. Sugar cane was now grown in Egypt, with the
sugar produced by an advanced process. (Ref. 137 ([188]), 260 ([29]))
1.24.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
We noted in the last chapter that the Aghlabid Dynasty had fallen to the Berbers. In this century these victors welcomed
Ubaid Allah, a Shi’ite "Mahdi" 50 from Syria, who used the Berber armies to establish a new north African, Fatimid
Dynasty. They destroyed Tahert and dominated Fez, eventually establishing their capital in Cairo as they assumed
control in Egypt. (Ref. 83 ([123])) The Moroccan Idrisids resisted for some time, but with the Spanish Omayyids
49 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17755/1.2/>.
is a Moslem title of an expected spiritual and temporal ruler destined to reign righteously over the world
50 "Mahdi"
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
38
CHAPTER 1. AFRICA
attacking also from the north, the Moroccans finally fell to the Fatimids. (Ref. 137 ([188])) As the Berbers expanded
northward in Morocco and the Arabs came westward along the coast, there was a shift in the balance between the
sedentary cultivators and the nomadic pastoralists. Nevertheless, Morocco, Algiers and Tunisia had a renewed prosperity with the establishment of great trade routes across the Sahara and increased commerce with Spain. In the desert,
itself, however, cruel famines were suffered by small towns and warfare contributed further to their demise. (Ref. 8
([14]), 176 ([242]))
1.24.1.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
By the end of this century most of Africa was out of the Stone Age. (Ref. 83 ([123])) It was the time of the apogee
of the Kingdom of Ghana with its capital at Kumbi and extending from near the Atlantic coast almost to Timbuktu.
It was essentially Negro, consisting of a group of federated tribes with a fairly well developed culture. Writing of
the wealth and wisdom of this African kingdom, the Moslem Ibn Hawqal said that Ghana boasted that its people had
hoards of gold and "the wealthiest of all kings on the face of the earth"51 . The recently excavated city of Jenne-jeno
reached the height of its development and by the end of the century may have had close to 20,000 people. This and
satellite communities had penetrated the marketplace of North Africa. Goods, produce and gold flowed north via river
and caravan while Saharan salt and Mediterranean glass beads came south. (Ref. 268 ([189]))
Pressure from the Berbers now forced the city-states of Chad to unite into a kingdom called Kanem-Bornu, or the
Kanuri Empire, founded by a desert people and having the longest surviving dynasty in history, not being overthrown
until the 19th century. A trans-Saharan slave trade running from west Africa east to the Arabs began in this century
and lasted for hundreds of years. (Ref. 175 ([241]), 8 ([14]), 213 ([288])) The Arabs began to colonize the east coast
as far south as Zanzibar but never reached or knew of Madagascar, in this century. (Ref. 137 ([188])) Ancestors of
present day Kikuyu tribes migrated into Kenya from the south. They were Bantu-speakers who were in the process of
spreading out from the Congo in the transition period from Stone Age hunting to the Iron Age and agriculture. (Ref.
175 ([241]), 8 ([14])) Zimbabwe continued to be occupied by the Shona people who traded in copper and gold.
Forward to Africa: A.D. 1001 to 1100 (Section 1.25)
1.25 Africa: A.D. 1001 to 110052
1.25.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: A.D. 901 to 1000 (Section 1.24)
1.25.1.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
In Ethiopia there was a revival of power under the Cushitic-speaking Zagwe Dynasty. Old documents link King
Yimrha-Kristos to the Egyptian Coptic patriarchs Cyril II (1,077-1,092) and Michael (1,092-1102). Meanwhile the
Semitic component of the country spread westward from Addis Ababa to include Lake Tana by 1,100. (Ref. 270
([36])) Nubia, in the region between the 1st and 4th cataracts of the Nile, continued to have two separate kingdoms,
one the Kingdom of Nubia and the other, farther south, the Kingdom of Alwa. (Ref. 83 ([123]))
Egypt remained an Arab, Moslem state under the Fatimid Dynasty throughout this century. As noted in the last chapter,
these Shi’ite rulers had invaded from the west, having first had a base in Tunisia and an army of Berber tribesmen.
They developed Cairo as their capital.
51 Quotation
52 This
from historical map of the National Geographic Society, (Ref. 154 ([212]))
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17756/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
39
1.25.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWESTERN AFRICA
Morocco and Tunisia had a continuing change of emirates and the situation was complicated by the return of hordes
of Spanish Moors, who were being run out of Spain. When the Berber Zirid Dynasty tried to become independent
of Cairo, the Fatimids sent armies of Bedouin Arabs against them and they succeeded in devastating the region and
its economy. At about that same time, on an island just off the Moroccan coast, Ibn Yasin, with some Sahara desert
followers, formed a dedicated band and with thousands of camel men, launched a "jihad"53 , driving eastward, overrunning all western, north Africa (the Mahgrib), some of Ghana and even part of Spain, establishing the Almoravid
Dynasty54 . A concept of Moroccan unity was born and Marakesh was developed as the capital of this new ruling
group in 1062.
1.25.1.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
The acme of the Ghana Empire may have occurred in the first half of this century. The inhabitants were the Negroid
Soninke (Sarakole) branch of Mande-speakers. They dominated well over 100,000 square miles of territory with an
efficient administration and an army of 200,000, including 40,000 bowmen. Their horses had gold trappings and their
guard dogs had gold collars. Al Bakri, writing in 1067, said that the houses were of two stories, with warehouses on the
ground floor and living quarters above. The Soninke had their own pagan religion, but they allowed Muslims in their
territory. In the second half of the century drought, famine and pillage of the capital city by the Almoravids (1076)
started the empire into decline. The invading Moslems were helped by non-Moslem Berbers who needed the salt
mines of Ankar. It is probable that the city of Jennejeno, whose development we have followed in previous chapters,
participated in this decline as it known that its population decreased, despite new commerce with North Africa. (Ref.
268 ([189])) As Ghana fell, successor states included Diara, Soso, two Mossi states and Manding, or Mali, formed
by the Malinke Mande. The ruler of the latter was a Moslem living in the rapidly growing city of Timbuktu. Subject
to Mali was an adjacent empire in the middle Niger called Songhoy and at about this same time a people called the
"Telem" took over the old abandoned granaries in the caves of the Bandiagara cliff in Mali and used this as a burial
place for their dead. (See page 234, volume 1). One cave alone has been found to have 3,000 skeletons. (Ref. 251
([17]))
By this time most of the desert nomads had been converted to Islam, which had spread south from the Maghrib into
the states of the Sudan with Muslim merchants as they crossed the Sahara. This dangerous trans-Sahara trade carried
luxury goods, eventually fire-arms and salt, a vital element in the diet of tropical countries. On the reverse, north
trek went gold, leather work and slaves. (Ref. 8 ([14]), 45 ([66]), 211 ([284]), 83 ([123])) This was the era when the
one-humped camel (dromedary) really became of greatest importance in the desert. These hot, dry-country animals
could carry 700 to 800 "light pounds". A caravan of 6,000 camels could carry 2,400 to 3,000 tons or the load of 4 to 6
medium sized sailing ships of that period. (Ref. 260 ([29]))
Farther east there was the country of Kanem, which had no gold but did a brisk business of exporting slaves. In this
century Kanem accepted Islam and under Mai Dunama I, the borders of the state were extended northward across the
desert to Fezzan and westward into Hausaland. Dunama is said to have had 30,000 horsemen, cultural and commercial
links with the Middle East and to have maintained a rest house in Cairo for pilgrims going from Kanem to Mecca.
(Ref. 175 ([241]), 83 ([123]))
In the dense rain forest of central Africa, Pygmoid and Bushmanoid hunters continued to be present and the Bantuspeaking Negroids had already been migrating down the rivers from the Sudanic belt to that area and were gradually
spreading east and south. The Luba people may have been well established in the Lake Kisale region of northern
Katanga for three centuries. The Kenya highlands and adjoining northern Tanzania were also already well populated.
The original inhabitants, as previously noted, were Caucasoids called "Azanians" and by tradition were tall, bearded
and red-skinned. Gradually through the centuries, however, these had been gradually absorbed by the Nilo-Hamites
and the Bantu-speaking Negroids. The latter were also filtering into the south into the territory of the Bushmen. Some
53 This
54 In
means a "holy war"
a newer terminology this is called the Murabit Dynasty. (Ref. 137 ([188]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
40
CHAPTER 1. AFRICA
buildings were erected at Zimbabwe in this century, beginning the development of another great empire which would
flower some centuries hence. (Ref. 83, 175 ([241]))
Forward to Africa: A.D. 1101 to 1200 (Section 1.26)
1.26 Africa: A.D. 1101 to 120055
1.26.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: A.D. 1001 to 1100 (Section 1.25)
1.26.1.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
This was a period of building in the Lasta Kingdom of Ethiopia, with imported Egyptian artisans and materials for
church construction. One of the greatest of the Lasta Zagwe kings was Lalibela, who came to power in 1195. Ethiopian
records of this era were not kept indefinitely because later dominant dynasties considered the Zagwe an "usurping"
one. (Ref. 270 ([36])) The cathedral built about A.D. 700 in Qasr Ibrim, Nubia, was originally dedicated to the Virgin
Mary, but after a raid in 1172-1173 by Shams ed-Dowla, brother of Saladin, it was converted into a mosque. Its ruins
remain today as a small island in Lake Nasser. (Ref. 271 ([7]))
The death throes of the Fatimid caliphate came about not by Christian Crusaders but by the expansion of Nureddin
and his Zangid Sultanate from Syria. Nureddin continued to live at Mosul and let Egypt be ruled by a Kurdish general,
Saladin, who then proceeded to set up his own Ayyubid Dynasty in 1174. Islam glorified in the integrity and justice of
his rule and even Christendom acknowledged him as a gentleman and scholar, even though a foe. At his death in 1193
his realm again became divided. (Ref. 137 ([188]), 83 ([123]))
1.26.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
The Norman, Roger of Sicily, annexed the Zirid Emirate of Tunisia about 1153, but as Saladin took over Egypt,
a Shi’ite empire was created farther west by a Berber tribe led by another supposed "Mahdi" and this Almohade
Dynasty56 replaced the Almoravids and gave Barbary its finest hour. They defeated the remaining Zirids and finally
even ran the Normans from Tunisia. (Ref. 137 ([188]), 83 ([123]))
1.26.1.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
The Tellem people continued to flourish in Mali. Men wore robes made of cotton strips sewn together, with waistbands
or leather aprons and cotton caps. The women wore short fiber aprons, occasionally with the front pulled back between
the legs to fasten to a waistband behind. They had leather sandals decorated with incised geometric designs, leather
bags and knife sheaths. Personal ornamentation included beads, iron, wood or bronze pendants, iron and leather
bracelets and cylindrical quartz plugs worn in noses or ears of both sexes.
Ife, a kingdom south of Nok (Nigeria), flourished from 1100 to 1500 and produced the greatest artistic creations of
tropical Africa. Ife bronzes were cast by the "lost wax" process which is still in use for some purposes today. (Ref.
175 ([241])) Timbuktu was a trade center of this century, servicing the empires of Manding and Songhoy. Great stone
buildings were erected in Great Zimbabwe as the Shona people made it the capital of their powerful state. (Ref. 8
([14]), 35 ([56])) (Please also see the 15th century C.E. where there is a summary of several centuries of activity in
this part of Africa).
Forward to Africa: A.D. 1201 to 1300 (Section 1.27)
Choose Different Region
55 This
56 In
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17757/1.2/>.
newer terminology this is the Muwahid Dynasty
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
41
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era57
America (Section 2.26)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.26)
Europe (Section 4.26)
The Far East (Section 6.26)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.26)
The Near East (Section 7.26)
Pacific (Section 8.26)
1.27 Africa: A.D. 1201 to 130058
1.27.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: A.D. 1101 to 1200 (Section 1.26)
1.27.1.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
In the highlands of Ethiopia there were several Muslim sultanates. In Lasta, King Labibela, who gave his name to
the capital city, is credited with 11 monumental rock-cut churches. Egyptian Coptic refugees were allegedly welcome
here, as Labibela attempted to establish a "new Jerusalem". Juniper trees were planted (in place of cedars), a local
stream was named the "Jordan River" and a grove of olives became the "Mount of Olives". (Ref. 270 ([36])) Nearer
the coast this rejuvenated dynasty line from the old Axumite kings gave way in 1270 to a new family claiming to be
a restoration of the old Solomon line, calling themselves the Solomonid Dynasty. These Amharic-speaking people
developed a true Ethiopian culture and came in conflict with the Muslim coastal states on the Horn of Africa, notably
Adal. The Solomonid ruler became known as the "King of Kings" and had many vassal kings under him. Christianity
in this area then began to absorb many Judaic and pagan practices from the mixed peoples living there. (Ref. 43 ([64]),
8 ([14]), 83 ([123]))
Nubia was invaded by Sultan Baibars of Egypt in the middle of the century and a puppet ruler was set up and tribute
paid to the Mamluks.
The descendant of the Kurd, Saladin, ruled Egypt in the first third of this century and one of the greatest achievements
of the time was the building of the Mansur Hospital in Cairo, a very large institution which had separate wards for
different diseases such as fevers, eye problems, female disorders, etc. Ruling the country in about 1238, Sultan alSalih, to augment his Turkoman army, purchased white slaves from the Mongols as they crossed southern Russia.
These slaves were mixtures of Cumans, Circassians and Alans and they became the most powerful cavalry unit in the
Egyptian army and were known as mamluks from the Arabic verb "to own". The practice of taking such men as royal
bodyguards had been started by the caliphs of Baghdad, who could not trust even their own relatives. The last Egyptian
sultan of the Kurd Ayyubin line died in 1249 and after a few murders, one of the white slave Mamluks named Aybak
married Queen Shajar al-Durr, founded the Burji Dynasty and became the first Mamluk sultan of Egypt. After seven
years Aybak made the mistake of trying to add a new wife, the daughter of the ruler of Mosul, Iraq. Queen Shajar
al-Durr murdered him in his bath, but she, in turn, received the same type of death three days later from Aybak’s loyal
concubines. (Ref. 125 ([173]), 5 ([10]))
The Mamluk General Baibars (also Baybars) led an army through Palestine, thwarting the last of the Crusaders, and
then went on to defeat his former captors in a great battle at Ain Jalut in 1260 and the Mongol advance was stopped.
As a result of these victories Baibars was elevated to be sultan and he proceeded to be one of the most cruel, ambitious
and yet able of the Mamluks. He traded ambassadors with the Mongol Berke in Russia and persuaded him to wage
war against fellow Mongol Hulegu in the Middle East, thus pinching the latter’s forces between them. He brought
57 "A.D.
58 This
1101 to 1200" <http://cnx.org/content/m17721/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17758/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
42
CHAPTER 1. AFRICA
the last Abbasid caliph to Cairo from the destroyed Baghdad, set him up as a puppet and then proceeded to form a
strong administration, reconstruct fortresses, roads, bridges and canals, although late in the century the old Necho
canal from the Nile to Red Sea was filled in. He had a regular postal service between Egypt and his domains in Syria.
At the height of his career, in 1277, he was poisoned. With the subsequent reign of Qalawun (1279-1290) the Bahri59
Mamluk Empire reached its height and the prosperity continued with his family successors until the middle of the
next century. It was a period of a full treasury and resulting commissioning of great works of art, both secular and
religious, including great palaces and mosques, manuscripts, glass vessels inlaid with gold and other treasures. (Ref.
137 ([188]), 5 ([10]))
1.27.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
All of north Africa had changes of regimes during this century. When the Baghdad Caliphate was destroyed by the
Mongols, the Hafsid Dynasty took the title of calph in Africa in A.D. 1259 and assumed control of Tunisia and some of
Morocco. In the latter area the Almohades were in collapse because of their losses in Spain to the Christians, and they
were displaced by the Marinid Sultan of Fez in 1269. Both Fez and Marraqesh were great Moroccon cities, exceeded
in population by very few European cities of that time.
Algeria was taken over by still another dynasty, the Zujanids. All of these north African states contributed to transSaharan trade and the crossing of the great desert by these medieval Arab merchants was a tremendous undertaking.
Caravans could cover 200 miles in a week but were subject to black-veiled Taureg pirates and if wells and oases failed,
men and beasts alike could perish. (Ref. 175 ([241]), 137 ([188]), 83 ([123]))
The area was not devoid of intellectual activity. Hasan published tables of sines for each degree and Nasir ud Din
wrote a treatise on trigonometry. In addition the whole science of botany was revised by these Arab-Berbers.
1.27.1.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
In western Africa in the great bend of the Niger River, several states vied for supremacy. At the beginning of the
century, Sumanguru, greatest of the rulers of Soso, next to the Mossi states, plundered the old capital of Ghana,
Kumbi, and in 1224 conquered and annexed Manding. This situation was reversed 11 years later, however, when the
Mandingos defeated the ruler of Soso and re-established independence, in a decisive battle of Kirina. This cleared
the way for the creation of Mali as a successor state to Ghana and it became the second great empire of the western
Sudan, extending from the Lower Gambia and Senegal rivers to the Niger-Benue junction. In contrast to the Ghana
homeland, which was in a semi-arid sahil, the Mali center was in a fertile agricultural land a little to the south and
they even had better access to gold. Sundiata was the warrior hero of these conquering Malinke Mandingos. Exactly
where the recently excavated city of Jennejeno fits into this new empire is not clear, but it is known that this ancient
city was already starting to decline in this century. The Tellem territory near the Bandigara cliff at the bend of the
Niger apparently was never governed politically by the Mali and evidently offered refuge.
In Ife, Nigeria, superb sculptured heads reached a peak production in this and the next century. It was the holy city of
the Yoruba tribe and home of its priest-king, the Oni. Some of the sculptures are believed to represent former Onis.
(Ref. 45 ([66]), 175 ([241]), 119 ([166]), 83 ([123]))
In the region of the southern Congo was the Lunda-Luba Empire. The trading states on the east coast were in a golden
age with the Indian Ocean becoming a vast Muslim lake. From Somalia in the north to Mozambique in the south,
dozens of coastal states flourished with between 30 and 40 medieval city-states, many on islands adjacent to the coast.
Kilwa, on the coast of southern Tanzania, was the greatest medieval east African city, with caravans arriving there with
ivory from around Lake Malawi and dhows coming up the coast from the south with gold, much of which came from
Zimbabwe. From Kilwa great oceangoing ships took off for Arabia, India and China on the monsoon winds. (Ref.
175 ([241])) Although the ruling dynasties of those eastern states were Muslim, the populations were mixed Arabs,
Persians, and indigenous Bantu. This resulted, in time, in the distinctive east African Swahili Culture. The political
59 "Bahri"
means the "sea" and was the name given to the Mamluks who were stationed on the Island of Roda in the Nile by the last Kurd Sultan,
Najm al-Din Ayyub. (Ref. 5 ([10]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
43
control extended only a few miles inland and the interior peoples, themselves, brought the wealth of east and central
Africa to the shores of the Indian Ocean. Slaves with tusks on their heads plodded for hundreds of miles to the coast
and then were sold with the ivory. (Ref. 68 ([106]))
Slightly inland and going from north to south, we should mention the rise of the Bantu kingdoms, especially Bunyoro,
the largest at that time, in the area of present day Uganda. (Ref. 175 ([241])) Farther south, in the Great Lakes area the
cattle herding Cwezi kings held sway. (Please see also the summary after the section on AFRICA, in the 15th century
chapter). Continuing south, the leading state of central Africa was governed by Mwana Mtapa and covered a 700 mile
stretch of the Zambesi Valley.
Mtapa was also the heir to an even older Shona Dynasty which had built the fortress of Zimbabwe, the ruins of which
still stand today. The Shonas formed loose federations to control gold mining regions and trade routes to the coast.
There is some evidence, however, of a burning of the original Great Zimbabwe dwellings in this century. (Ref. 35
([56]), 8 ([14]))
Forward to Africa: A.D. 1301 to 1400 (Section 1.28)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era60
America (Section 2.27)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.27)
Europe (Section 4.27)
The Far East (Section 6.27)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.27)
The Near East (Section 7.27)
Pacific (Section 8.27)
1.28 Africa: A.D. 1301 to 140061
1.28.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: A.D. 1201 to 1300 (Section 1.27)
1.28.1.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
The Somali have been documented as being in the Horn of Africa in this 14th century but they may have actually
arrived much earlier. Although commentary and archaeological material is meagre, it is probable that the homeland
of these Somali, as well as the Galla, Danakil and Sidama lies in the Rift Valley of southern Ethiopia. They were
all speakers of eastern Cushitic languages and for all life was hard, with frequent bloody feuds adding to their troubles. The Solomonids from Shoa continued their civilization in Ethiopia, with Emperor Amda Siyon (A.D. 1314-44)
expanding toward the south and then defeating the Muslims of eastern Ethiopia in A.D. 1332. A reformed monastic
movement evangelized frontier districts and churches were built on mountain tops. (Ref. 83 ([123]), 270 ([36]))
The real power in northeast Africa, of course, was Egypt, where the Mamluk Dynasty continued to reign with relative
stability and with increased aggressiveness as they even conquered Armenia in 1375. Cairo was the greatest city and
its minor art, enameled glass and pottery work was exceptionally fine. One of the greatest Bahri Mamluk patrons
of the arts was Sultan Hasan (1347-51 and 1354-61), who is remembered for his school and mausoleum which was
decorated with carved stone and stucco, marble revetments, inlaid metal doors and gilded glass lamps. His successor,
Shaban II, commissioned fabulously illuminated Korans, some in blocks three feet high. Each Mamluk sultan was
60 "A.D.
61 This
1201 to 1300" <http://cnx.org/content/m17723/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17759/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
44
CHAPTER 1. AFRICA
always surrounded by a group of Amirs, also former slave Mamluks, and these in turn, also always had a new group
of slave Mamluk bodyguards. The latter could earn their freedom and when they did, they were sent as governors
and commanders to various provinces and given land for themselves. (Ref. 5 ([10])) Cannons were in use in Cairo
and Alexandria in the latter half of the century. Ibn Batuta, travelling to Cairo, described 12,000 water carriers and
thousands of camel drivers plying for hire62 .
In this 14th century the majority of Egyptians, for the first time, were Arab-speaking Muslims and this must have
resulted from many intermarriages with Bedouin Arabs. It is possible that the Black Death among the original native
population may also have-been a factor in this ethnic shift, as about 1/3 of the inhabitants died in the first attack of that
plague between 1347 and 1349. (Ref. 140 ([190]))
In 1381 Malik al-Nasir Barquq, an amir of the Burji Mamluks, overthrew the east Bahri sultan and started a new
dynasty, the Burji, dedicated to luxury and intrigue and violence, which soon led to social decay. This administration
debased the coinage, taxed necessities and laid such heavy duty on India-European trade that Europe had to find a new
route to India in the next century.
1.28.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
A creditable civilization remained in North Africa, although between the Marinids of Morocco and the Hafsids of
Tunisia there was endless strife, particularly as to who should receive the homage of the intervening Ziyanids of Algeria. In 1360 the latter became independent and the Hafsid dominion divided into the Hafsid Emirate of Constantine
and the plain Hafsid Caliphate, running to the east along the coast as far as Egypt. The Marinids of Morocco flourished
as much from piracy as through commerce. (Ref. 137 ([188]), 119 ([166]))
At Timbuktu, far south across the great desert, there was a library of some 1,600 volumes, a famous university and
beautiful mosques. The geographer Muhammad abu Abdullah ibn Batuta, after traveling about 75,000 miles, wrote a
book about this area and Abd-er-Rahman of Tunis, perhaps the greatest historian of all time, wrote many treatises on
the rise and fall of civilizations in general, anticipating and stimulating Arnold Toynbee in many respects. At the end
of this 14th century repeated nomad conquerors from the fringes of the Sahara began raids into North Africa, starting
a period of decadence.
1.28.1.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
While Europe suffered the Black Death and the Hundred Years War, black kingdoms of the Sudan were flourishing
with great wealth and brilliant artistic accomplishments. Competing with the one at Timbuktu, a university at Jenne
attracted students from far and wide. (Ref. 8 ([14])) The Muslims of Mali had "-a greater abhorrence of injustice than
any other people", said Ibn Battuta63 The Mali emperor, Musa I, made a pilgrimage to Mecca, taking with him a great
train of servants, courtiers, slaves and 3,800 kilograms of gold, sufficient to depress the price of that metal on the Cairo
exchange. But about 1350, the expanding Empire of Songhai began to take over Mali territory, continuing to support
their city of Timbuktu, but creating a new capital at nearby Gao. Between Songhai and Kanem-Bornu were the Hausa
city-states. Of these, Kano and Katsina particularly were rich and industrious, with a specialty production of leather
goods which was called "Moroccan" leather in England. If continued in the present region of Nigeria. On the Gulf
of Guinea several kingdoms arose in the area now known as Ghana. The Yoruba people, who settled the tropical rain
forest of the Niger Basin, built up powerful kingdoms of Benin and Oyo. (Ref. 175 ([241]))
Many wealthy city-states appeared on the east coast of Africa in this and the next century. The city of Zimbabwe has
been mentioned previously and this remained a very important religious, political and trading center of the Shona, a
Bantu-speaking people among which building and pottery styles reached a peak in this and the 15th centuries. Stone
walling was improved, the old burned out stone buildings were rebuilt and an attractive edifice 800 feet long and 32
feet high was constructed for some unknown purpose. (Ref. 88 ([131])) The Shona are still today the majority people
of that country.
62 As
63 As
noted by Braudel (Ref. 260 ([29])), page 481
quoted in Reference 154 ([212]) by the National Geographic Society, Cartographic Division
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
45
Forward to Africa: A.D. 1401 to 1500 (Section 1.29)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era64
America (Section 2.28)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.28)
Europe (Section 4.28)
The Far East (Section 6.28)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.28)
The Near East (Section 7.28)
Pacific (Section 8.28)
1.29 Africa: A.D. 1401 to 150065
1.29.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: A.D. 1301 to 1400 (Section 1.28)
1.29.1.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
This part of the world experienced no great change from the previous century. The Solomonid Dynasty in Ethiopia was
at the height of its power and Amhara colonists continued to invade southern Shoa, Gojam and the base of the Semien
Mountains. The Moslems controlled all the Red Sea coast, however, and confined the Christians to the Ethiopian
highlands. Even Nubia became Moslem. The Caucasoid Azanians in the northeastern interior felt the impact of
migrating Bantu speakers and the arrival of Nilo Hamites with their Cushitic languages, such as Galla, influenced the
region. These Nilo-Hamites appear to have been a mixture from three origins, - Nilotic Negroids of the upper Nile,
Cushitic Sidama of Ethiopia and a third of origin unknown. (Ref. 83 ([123]))
The Mamluk Dynasty continued in Egypt, but with declining power and influence.
It must be recalled that this ruling group were originally warriors from the Caucasus region and this communication
with Black Sea ports allowed recurrent epidemic disasters in Egypt. Disease, helped probably by oppression and bad
government, resulted in depopulation and impoverishment. The last great Mamluk sultan was Qaitbay (1468-96), an
avid builder, who restored some of the greatness of the old Bahri period of the 13th century, but the decline of the
empire was only temporarily halted. (Ref. 140 ([190]), 5 ([10]))
1.29.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
The coast still had a high cultural level and now acted as a refuge for the Moors fleeing from the persecutions in Spain.
With the decline of the Moroccan Marinids and after the Portuguese seized Ceuta, opposite from Gibralter in 1415, the
Hafsids gained at least titular supremacy over all of western North Africa for while. By 1478 the Wattasid Sultanate
developed in the far west and the Ziyanid Emir existed between the Wattasid and the slipping Hafsids. (Ref. 137
([188]), 83 ([123])) By the end of the century, the Arabs had established sugar cane in the Moroccan Sousse and from
there it soon spread on into the Atlantic to Madeira, the Canaries and the Azores.
1.29.1.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
Just southwest of the Sahara it was the heyday of the Songhai, who had great mosques at Timbuktu and Jenne and
were famous for their piety and scholarship. Relationships of this particular empire with Morocco were not cordial
64 "A.D.
65 This
1301 to 1400" <http://cnx.org/content/m17724/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17761/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
46
CHAPTER 1. AFRICA
because of competition for the trans-Saharan trade and the valuable salt mine of Taghaxa in the northern desert. This
Songhai Empire came into its zenith about 1464, when a warrior king, the Sonni Ali, came to the throne of Gao in
the middle Niger and by his death had extended his rule over the whole western Sudan. He had cavalry, levies of foot
soldiers and flotillas of war canoes, which patrolled the 1,000 miles of the navigable Niger. It was he who ended the
Mali Empire of Ghana. (Ref. 83 ([123]))
In the forest area of west Africa were the Edo, who developed great bronze sculpture in the Kingdom of Benin, near
the coast of Nigeria. Benin was a walled city, 25 miles around, with wide, straight streets and spacious houses of
wood. In Ife, in southwest Nigeria, one of these bronze heads was definitely made by the lost wax technique. Seven
Hausa city-states, including Kano, Zaria, Gobir and Katsina had become flourishing commercial centers in the Sudan.
Agriculture was the basis of society, with trade routes through the Sahara. Guinea, existing out on the southwest
corner of the bulge of west Africa, would, at first glance, appear to be a site early exploited by Europeans, but actually
it remained isolated for a long time because European ships could not return from there directly up the west African
coast. Because of the Atlantic currents and wind, they had to go straight out to the middle Atlantic before they could
turn and go north again. The people of Guinea were modest farmers and fishermen, with some local trade involving
salt and dried fish. Deeper inland, they had some contact with the Sudan. This small country has a rain forest, but it is
not deep and is traversed by the magnificent waterway, the Niger. Near the end of the century the Portugese did arrive
to establish a trading post. A little to the east, the foundations had been laid for the famous forest states of Oyo and
Akan, as well as Benin, which we have described above. (Ref. 206 ([83]), 17 ([30]), 83 ([123]), 8 ([14])) The Sudan
had gold mines, ruled by village chiefs and the workers approached the condition of slavery. (Ref. 292 ([28]))
In central Africa gold was plentiful and the king of the Congo maintained such opulence in his capital that visiting
Portuguese were amazed and made haste to make an alliance, not a conquest. About 1441 they brought Christianity
to western, central Africa, going even 200 miles up the Congo to convert the Congo king. Incidentally, they brought
back gold. (Ref. 175 ([241])) Living in the great bend of the Congo, in the plateau north of Stanley Pool, were the
Teke people in a number of chiefdoms collectively known as Mongo. (Ref. 83 ([123]))
Farther east in the lake country between Tanzania and Zaire there appeared in this 15th century the Batutsi, a tall,
warrior people, perhaps originally from Ethiopia. They invaded and subjugated the native Bahutu in Burundi. In
Kenya, the nomadic Masai entered from the north, joining the Kikuyu already there and then some Luo entered from
the west. The Kikuyu were Bantu-speakers and related groups established themselves in parts of the Transvaal and
Natal as well as the lower Congo and Zambezi by about A.D. 1500. Kitari was an Hamitic kingdom north of Lake
Victoria. (Ref. 175 ([241]), 83 ([123]))
In the meantime Muslim Swahili66 city-states had been established all down the eastern coast of Africa and there
was special interest in the gold of the Zimbabwe (Rhodesia) region. The Bantu-speakers had migrated southward
along the spine of east Africa with a new war-like ethos and a pastoral life, dominating other tribes and reaching the
Zambesi River by the end of the century. Arab trade inland actually declined, because these Bantu were less amenable
to exploitation than their predecessors, chiefly Bushmen. By 1440 King Mutota of the Rozur clan in the Katanga
nation assembled an army which completely dominated the Rhodesian plateau within 10 years. This period has been
described by Charles Colt, Jr. (Ref. 35 ([56])) as a splitting of the Shona state into two rival kingdoms. At any rate, as
ruler of an empire, Mutota than took the title of Mwene Mutapa 67 . The Portuguese wrote this as Monomotapa, which
soon became the name of the empire, itself. The stone birds, which have been found in the ruins of old Zimbabwe,
were probably important in the religious ritual of that theocratic empire. The realm was soon subject to revolution and
succession wars and this resulted in many "ups and downs" in its history and in its buildings. From the beginning in
1440 on for 400 years, however, there was a progressive evolution of artistic and technical skills in that society. The
Monomatapa ruler was considered divine and his subjects would hear him but not look at him and had to approach
him on their stomachs. He lived amid great pomp, but when he became seriously ill or very old he was obliged to
take poison. At the end of the 15th century the entire nation moved hundreds of miles north, apparently because the
local salt supplies of Great Zimbabwe had been exhausted. Their extensive stone buildings, which still exist, were
66 "Swahili"
67 In
implies "Arab and Negro". (Ref. 83 ([123]))
the Shona language, "Mwene Mutapa" means "Master Pillager". (Ref. 176 ([242]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
47
abandoned at that time. (Ref. 8 ([14]), 83 ([123]), 35 ([56]), 176 ([242]), 211 ([284]), 45 ([66]))
Explorer Diogo Cao claimed Angola for Portugal in 1483 and the slave trade was opened up in earnest. In the next
four centuries, some 3,000,000 slaves were sent to Brazil by the Portuguese. At the very tip of South Africa the
people seen when the Europeans first explored the area were the Bushmen, who were hunters and gatherers, and the
Hottentots (Khoikhoi), who herded sheep and cattle along the coastal regions. As noted previously, these were not
Bantu-speaking people. (Ref. 175 ([241]))
Forward to Africa: A.D. 1501 to 1600 (Section 1.30)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era68
America (Section 2.29)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.29)
Europe (Section 4.29)
The Far East (Section 6.29)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.29)
The Near East (Section 7.29)
Pacific (Section 8.29)
1.30 Africa: A.D. 1501 to 160069
1.30.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: A.D. 1401 to 1500 (Section 1.29)
1.30.1.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
The horn of Africa now became the site of bitter conflict, originally a trading rivalry, but soon a long religious and
political fight between Christians of Ethiopia and the Muslim coastal states. The sultan of Adal (now between Somalia
and Ethiopia), Ahmad Gran, attacked into the heartland of Ethiopia in the 1520s with the help of Danakill and Somali nomads. The Christian Amhara nation dominated the Ethiopian plateau at that time and sustained a flourishing
ecclesiastical art. (Ref. 8 ([14]), 270 ([36])) The pope sent Portuguese soldiers, led by Christopher da Gama (Vasco’s
son), to help against this Muslim conquest in a 20 year long war. As a result of that help by Portuguese, Ethiopia came
under Catholic influence for the first time, as their own Coptic Church had been declared heretical some 1,100 years
previously. The Jesuits with the Portuguese tried to convert the Ethiopians, apparently without too much success, as
all Catholic missions were expelled by the next century. But the old Christian empire was so exhausted by the warfare
that the pagan Galla, from the south and east then invaded and settled in the country, with general anarchy resulting.
(Ref. 175 ([241]), 8 ([14]), 83 ([123])) Additional Notes (p. 49)
In what is now the country of Sudan, the Funj people appeared early in this century, defeated the Arabs and established
a powerful kingdom around the capital Sennar, on the Blue Nile. The people, known as the "Black Sultans" of eastern
Sudan eventually adopted Islam. (Ref. 83 ([123]))
In Egypt the last Mamluk sultan was Qansuh al-Ghuri, a scholarly man coming to the throne late in life. Decadence,
rivalry and corruption continued in his regime. To add to the Mamluk troubles, their trading ports were now by-passed
by the Portuguese trade- routes around the Cape of Good Hope and the Egyptian treasury was soon empty. The stage
was set for the advance of the Ottoman Turk, Selim I, who defeated the Mamluk army in Syria and advanced to rule
Egypt and Hejaz (Saudi Arabia). (Ref. 5 ([10]))
68 "A.D.
69 This
1401 to 1500" <http://cnx.org/content/m17725/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17763/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
48
CHAPTER 1. AFRICA
1.30.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
Estimates of the population of North Africa in this century vary from 2,000,000 to 3,500,000. (Ref. 260 ([29])) After
da Gama’s voyage around Africa at the end of the preceding century, the economic ascendancy of North Africa ended.
Science and philosophy lost out to both Christianity and Islam and the area began to decline to the status we know
today. In the early century, both Spain and Portugal gained control of some Moroccan ports, but in a great battle of
Alcazarquivir in 1578, King Sebastian of Portugal was killed and the Moroccans preserved their independence for
another half century, usually ruled by factions of the Sharifian Dynasty. (Ref. 175 ([241])) That country, alone of
the north African states, remained independent of the Ottomans. At the height of its power, in about 1590, Morocco
invaded the Songhai Empire and set up a client state in the sudan, disrupting the economy of that entire region. (Ref.
8 ([14])) Throughout the century local fairs were set up in connection with local saints and pilgrimages. One of the
largest was among the Gouzzoula, south of the Anti-Atlas, looking out over the desert. It survived for hundreds of
years. (Ref. 292 ([28]))
East of Morocco in the Oran-Algiers-Tripoli area a band of pirates roved until captured by Spanish forces using
artillery in 1509 and 1510. Then in 1,516 a colorful buccaneer entered the picture - one Khair ed-Kin Khizr, called
"Barbarossa" because of his red hair. Actually he was a Greek, who had joined the pirates, conquering Tripoli, Tunisia
and Algeria and he then offered the Ottoman, Selim I, sovereignty over the area in return for the use of a Turkish
army. With the latter he became the hero of western Islam, by ferrying 70,000 Moors from Spain to Africa, raiding
Sicily and Italy, landing at Naples and then, with the French fleet, taking Nice and Villefranche from the Holy Roman
Emperor. After all this, he died in bed at age 80 years. The Algiers and Oran area continued to be the haunt of the
Barbary pirates until the end of the 18th century. (Ref. 175 ([241]), 260 ([29]))
In the meantime, however, Charles I of Spain (later Emperor Charles V) had re-captured Tunis as part of his war with
Turkey, and had installed a puppet ruler. But the Ottomans, with Barbarossa’s help, continued to creep across north
Africa and gradually once again took over the entire area, with the exception of a few Spanish ports and the Sultanates
of Fez and Morocco. In 1,571 the Turkish sea power was broken in a great sea battle off Lepanto, by a combined
Spanish-Venetian navy. (Ref. 8 ([14]))
1.30.1.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
Horses have never been used much in Africa. For one thing the animals do not thrive in the tropics and secondly, they
remained exceptionally expensive. In this 16th century horses cost three times as much as slaves in central Africa,
although in the sudan the great Moroccan horses were sometimes worth 12 slaves each. (Ref. 260 ([29])) The huge
Songhai Empire, which had been built up by Sunni Ali in the last century, was led early in this century by an even
greater man, Askia Muhammad, the Great (1493-1528). There were a number of large commercial cities, such as the
old Mali capital of Timbuktu, a town of 6,000 houses with a splendid royal court. The city was multi-racial, with
Songhai, Taureg, Moor, Malenki and Fulani, a fact which led to hostility and succession problems in the empire. The
predominantly Negro inhabitants were described as superior in wit, civility and industry. Other cities were Jenne and
Gao, the latter full of rich merchants. But each century the Sahara was becoming more and more desiccated and life
a little harder. To further complicate matters, in 1590 the Sultan of Morocco sent an army of 3,000 men, including
Spanish and Portuguese renegades straight south across the desert to wipe out Songhai. Their cannons and muskets
won the towns quickly, but in the south where the terrain did not favor open warfare, they could not win, although the
war went on for a decade, devastating the country-side and bringing down the empire. Learning, culture and prosperity
all disappeared from the region. (Ref. 175 ([241]), 154 ([212]), 222 ([296]), 83 ([123])) Apparently isolated from the
rest of Mali, a people called "Dogon” arrived in the Bondagara cliff region to gradually replace the Tellem, who had
lived in the area since the 11th century. The latter had been decreasing in nu mber since the 13th century, however,
perhaps because of pressure from the Mali and later the Songhai empires. The Dogon lived in this isolated region,
more or less unknown to the western world until about 1907. (Ref. 251 ([17]))
Farther south in Nigeria, the Bini tribe of Benin made magnificent bronzes, using the "lost wax" method and did
beautiful ivory carvings for the royal palaces. Ife remained, related to Benin. About Lake Chad it was the apogee of
the Empire of Kanem, or Bornu, under Idres III. In the Great Lakes region, Lwo invaders from the north overthrew the
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
49
Cwezi kings and established the states of Bunyoro and Buganda.. In Uganda the Kingdom of Buchwezi continued.
The Watutsi, probably originating in Ethiopia, migrated in the late 16th century to the Lake Kiva region, establishing
the Rwanda and Burundi kingdoms. The Kikuya reached Kenya from the south, cut down the forest and started to
cultivate the land. (Ref. 83 ([123])) Farther south, in what later was to become Rhodesia and is now again Zimbabwe,
the king of Monomatapa left the original Zimbabwe region to establish a new capital on the northern edge of the
Rhodesian plateau. A new dynasty, the Rosvis, soon revived the original area and some of the largest Zimbabwe
buildings were then constructed. (Ref. 19 ([32]), 38 ([59]), 175 ([241])) As the Bantu speakers pushed southward,
four main linguistic groups developed. The Nguni group took on many "clicks" of the Khoisan tongue of the Bushmen,
as the latter were pushed westward and toward the cape. (Ref. 83 ([123]))
The Portuguese were the first European power to make some inroad into Subsaharan Africa. After having taken Sofala
and Kil-wa and founding Mozambique between 1505 and 1507 they ascended the Zambesi River in 1513. And they
were not hesitant about taking slaves from the Atlantic side of the continent. In the Congo in about 1526 the Christian
King Affonso deplored the depopulation of his country by slavers who were chiefly Portuguese. Inadvertently, these
Europeans did Africa another great disfavor by bringing maize from America. That maize grew so rapidly that it led
to a great population increase in some areas, so that slave ships never sailed empty. A terrible side effect, however,
was the appearance of the nutritional disease, pellagra, which resulted from the exclusive diet of maize, when not
supplemented with other foods or prepared with lime water. In the Central and South American homelands of that
vegetable, people not only converted the corn to hominy with lime water, but ate tomatoes, capsicum, peppers and fish,
which supplied the vitamins necessary to prevent pellagra. (Ref. 154 ([212]), 211 ([284]))
Sir John Hawkins initiated the British slave trade and the Dutch established their first colony on the Guinea coast in
1595. To evaluate the early effect of the slave trade one must realize that in the early years African monarchs profited
from the trade, obtaining weapons, cloth, metal and spirits, which increased their wealth. The loss of population of
about 40,000 a year was generally economically acceptable and in this respect only, the less populous Angola and East
Africa suffered. The larger kingdoms of Ashanti and Dahomey might owe their rise to power to the fire-arms acquired
in the slave trade. (Ref. 213 ([288]))
Forward to Africa: A.D. 1601 to 1700 (Section 1.31)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era70
America (Section 2.30)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.30)
Europe (Section 4.30)
The Far East (Section 6.30)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.30)
The Near East (Section 7.30)
Pacific (Section 8.30)
NOTE : The southern farmlands of Ethiopia, in the region of Bale, was occupied by Oromos, most of whom
were Moslems
1.31 Africa: A.D. 1601 to 170071
1.31.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: A.D. 1501 to 1600 (Section 1.30)
70 "A.D.
71 This
1501 to 1600" <http://cnx.org/content/m17726/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17765/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
50
CHAPTER 1. AFRICA
1.31.1.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
In the early century, Ethiopian emperors began to reconsolidate their power among the plains and lush hillsides of
Begemder and developed a permanent royal residence at Gondar, after 1636. Emperor Fasilida expelled all Jesuits
by 1633, put down the Moslems of Adal, and closed the country to foreigners. Later local wars against both the
neighboring Muslims and the Galla, farming people of central and south Ethiopia, resumed and was to last almost two
centuries. Galla groups continued to move in Somali, some intermarrying with Arabs and developing a passionate
devotion to Islam. Cubes of salt served as both money and food for these people. In Egypt, Turkish control continued.
(Ref. 83 ([123]), 260 ([29]))
1.31.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
This area continued to decline economically and intellectually, Ali Bey made himself hereditary Bey of Tunis, while
Algiers and Tripoli became virtually independent states. Politics was violent, with riots, plots, counter-plots, and
massacres. 30,000 of Algiers’ 130,000 people were Christian slaves of the dominant Moslems. The Barbary pirates
continued to work the Algiers and Oran areas throughout this century, using renegade Europeans from Calabria or
Sicily, as captains. (Ref. 83 ([123]))
1.31.1.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
In the western bulge of Africa the state of Ashanti was formed and rapidly expanded to absorb some 30 independent
neighboring kingdoms in the area that is now part of western Ghana. It was the Ashanti who teamed up with the
European slavers for the greatest exports of men. Between the Ashanti and the Niger delta the states of Dahomey and
Oyo were also established in this century and the entire region was sometimes called “the slave coast”. Later some of
it was called “the gold coast”. The Portuguese had refused to sell firearms to any of these people, but in the middle of
the century the Dutch did. On the upper Niger, the black Bambara Kingdom defeated and replaced the old Manding
empire about 1670. Brought from America, maize gradually came to be the primary food plant north of the Congo in
Benin and among the Yoruba. (Ref. 58 ([86]), 83 ([123]), 260 ([29]))
Bornu continued as the most powerful state of the central Sudan, but interstate wars continued in this and the next
century. Kuba was a group of chiefdoms at the south edge of the rain forest which developed a relatively high standard
of living and rapid population increase as they received new American crops and techniques, both brought by the
Portuguese. The Buchwezi Kingdom in Uganda was succeeded by the Buganda and this had become the most powerful
of the Bantu-speaking kingdoms by 1700. Those people carved wooden sculptures and had very artistic palaces,
shrines, and houses. Large drums, some 12 feet across, were used as ritual objects, supposedly to communicate with
ancestors. (Ref. 175 ([241]))
Portuguese domination of Swahili cities of the east coast was eliminated by the Arabs of Oman, who had considerable
maritime power at that time. A 1690 revolt in Mozambique, led by Changamire, to protest against harsh Portuguese
treatment, resulted in the elimination of Europeans there, but they still bought slaves through other ports. (Ref. 83
([123]))
In parts of southern Africa, Bushmen still made rock-paintings and engravings of polychrome animals which could
compare favorably with any stone-age art of the Sahara or even of western Europe. The best paintings of this and
the next two centuries are in the Drakenburg Mountains. (Ref. 88 ([131])) In 1652 the Dutch East India Company
established a rest station near the cape at the tip of Africa, en route to the Spice Islands (Indonesia). Soon slaves
were imported for local labor and the local Hottentots supplied beef. Several hundred French Huguenots arrived as
settlers also by 1700 so that by the time there was a mixture of about 1000 Dutchmen with some French and the
native Hottentots and Bushmen. Neither of the latter are correctly considered to be truly of the Negro race and the
Bantu-speaking, true Negroes were still in the process of migrating slowly down the eastern coast of the continent,
although the Nguni were beginning to settle over most of Natal. (Ref. 83 ([123]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
51
Although the Europeans were establishing trading posts along the coast of Africa, the mainland of the continent
remained self-contained and there were no true European colonies until the end of the next century. Probably the chief
reason for the slow penetration up the rivers by Caucasians is that most of tropical Africa’s rivers are blocked by huge
waterfalls only a short distance from the rivers’ mouths. There was some traveling up the Senegal and the Gambiae. As
the sugar, cotton, and tobacco plantations developed in the New World, the slave trade from Africa reached substantial
proportions. Initially handled by the Portuguese, the trade was progressively taken over by British, Dutch, and French.
In 4 ½ centuries some 10 million slaves were brought to the Americas and this slave trade inhibited political, economic,
and social development and culled out the sound and healthy population already debilitated by endemic disease. (ref.
68) Early on the Portuguese had a trading station in Angola, but for a while the Dutch took this away, depriving the
Portuguese for slaves for the Brazilian plantations. By 1640, then independent of Spain, Portugal recovered Angola
and some 14 years later even drove the Dutch out of Brazil as well. The French started some settlements on Madagascar
in 1626 and intermarried with various primitive tribes and the Hovas, who had arrived from across the Indian Ocean
about 1000 A.D. They were the most advanced of several peoples of Malay and Melanesian stocks, all speaking one
language, but with many dialects.
Forward to Africa: A.D. 1701 to 1800 (Section 1.32)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era72
America (Section 2.31)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.31)
Europe (Section 4.31)
The Far East (Section 6.31)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.31)
The Near East (Section 7.31)
Pacific (Section 8.31)
1.32 Africa: A.D. 1701 to 180073
1.32.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: A.D. 1601 to 1700 (Section 1.31)
1.32.1.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
Local war continued in Ethiopia. James Bruce, exploring that country as he traveled from Massawa to Gondar and
thence to the Blue Nile, reported that the Ethiopian Empire was in decline, restricted to the area north of the Blue Nile
and was wracked by rebellion. Galla tribesmen had penetrated the countryside and looted at will. (Ref. 270 ([36]))
Egypt was simply a part of the Ottoman Empire until the very end of the century, when Napoleon penetrated it as a
gateway to the east (1798). The population had shrunk from about 8,000,000 in the 1st century C.E. to 2,000,000 at
this time. (Ref. 68 ([106])) Additional Notes (p. 52)
1.32.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
Hussein ibn Ali founded the Husseinite Dynasty in Tunis and threw off Turkish authority in 1705 and shortly thereafter
Ahmed Bey made himself ruler of Tripoli, founding the Karamanil Dynasty, which was to last more than a century.
The Spaniards were expelled from Oran for awhile, but they resumed control in 1732. From 1757 to 1789 Morocco
was ruled by Sidi Mohammed, who established a regime of law and order and abolished Christian slavery. By 1800
72 "A.D.
73 This
1601 to 1700" <http://cnx.org/content/m17728/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17766/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
52
CHAPTER 1. AFRICA
those north African areas still subject to Ottoman Sultans were the most powerful communities controlled by outsiders
on the continent. (Ref. 119 ([166]), 83 ([123]))
Copper bracelets, gold dust and horses were all used as currency in that part of Africa. Magnificient horses of the
Moors were sold for 15 slaves each. In more southern areas a sheet of paper would obtain a fat, tender chicken. (Ref.
260 ([29]))
1.32.1.3 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
In western Africa, local wars in Ghana finally allowed that state to be taken over by Ashanti warriors, whose king and
major chief s wore regalia made of local gold and imported silver. This forest Akan Empire became supreme in the
interior of that part of Africa, trading gold for European fire-arms. They used minature brass sculptures to measure
their gold dust. (Ref. 19 ([32]), 175 ([241])) The west coast of Africa was also the source of slaves for the British
slave trade to the Spanish colonies in America. Britain had obtained this right as part of the treaty ending the Spanish
War of Succession. The Ibo, in Guinea, supplied a greater number of slaves than any other e-thnic group, but their
internal state was very little disturbed. Late in the century (1787) Sierra Leone, on the west coast, was acquired by the
British for the settlement of freed slaves and it was made a separate colony in 1799, the same year as the founding of
the British Church Missionary Society. Also late in this period, at about 1776, there was a rise of the Tukulor power
in west Africa on the upper Niger, pushing the French out of their Senegal possessions on the river of the same name.
The French recovered these in 1778.
Farther east the Hausa continued as a power about Lake Chad. Oyo, south of the Hausa states, got horses from the
latter and built up a large cavalry. They may have had as many as 6,000 towns and villages, with almost all of the
population speaking the Yoruba tongue. Still farther east, about the Great Lakes, the lake kingdoms of Uganda and
Buganda made contact with the outside world, particularly through the Arab and Swahili merchants on the east coast.
The Arabs had settled the coastal area of Kenya and came under control of the Sultan of Zanzibar from 1740 on. (Ref.
83 ([123]), 175 ([241]))
In the equatorial area, 600 miles northeast of the Kuba Kingdom, were several states of warrior Zande stock and east
of them were the Mangbetu who, although cannibals, had advanced metal work displayed in lavish treasure chambers.
The origin of these people is unknown. On the southern savannahs the Bakuba of Zaire commemorated their king
with many fine portrait statues and in the more isolated regions, the Bushmen continued rock paintings. In the Cape
Colony, the Dutch gradually pushed inland as cattle raiders and farmers, reaching the Orange River in 1760 and the
Great Fish River in 1776. In 1795 the British fleet, acting under mandate from the exiled Prince of Orange, captured
the Dutch garrison, primarily to prevent the Cape Colony from falling into the hands of the French. We should note,
in passing, that the end of the century marked the birth of Shaka, a great Bantu-speaking king who would eventually
fuse the Zulu nations into a great war machine. The Bushmen of the Cape were essentially destroyed by the European
impact. (Ref. 83 ([123]), 119 ([166]), 154 ([212]))
Forward to Africa: A.D. 1801 to 1900 (Section 1.33)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era74
America (Section 2.32)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.32)
Europe (Section 4.32)
The Far East (Section 6.32)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.32)
The Near East (Section 7.32)
Pacific (Section 8.32)
74 "A.D.
1701 to 1800" <http://cnx.org/content/m17729/latest/>
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
53
NOTE : Eritrea was colonized by the Italians in 1890, but otherwise Ethiopia remained independent throughout the century. The Oromos in the south, which were the largest group in the country, were subjugated in
late century by Menelik II and the land was divided up among the royal family, the church, soldiers of the
conquering army and other friends of the crown. The farmers became mere landless tenants
1.33 Africa: A.D. 1801 to 190075
1.33.1 AFRICA
Back to Africa: A.D. 1701 to 1800 (Section 1.32)
1.33.1.1 NORTHEAST AFRICA
Ethiopia, a land of priests and monasteries, was the only Christian state in this area. It had an emperor without power
as the country was - rent by rivalries among the provincial warlords and was subjected to repeated attacks by Galla
nomads from the south. Actually, the latter, along with Amhara warlords, wielded the real power. In 1855 an ex-bandit,
Ras Kassa, seized power making himself Emperor Theodorus and soon became a tyrant. In 1864 he imprisoned three
members of a British mission and they were rescued only three years later by a British military expedition coming in
from the Red Sea. Theodorus killed himself and civil war followed. A powerful, local leader, Menelik, supported by
Italy finally won out, becoming Menelik II. He soon broke with Italy, however, and captured some 3,000 Italians in a
battle at Aduwa in 1896. He did build railways and schools and a new capital at Addis Ababa. (Ref. 68 ([106]), 175
([241]), 83 ([123]))
The horn of Africa came under the control of the Sultan of Oman and Zanzibar in the 1820s. Throughout most of the
century the Sudan was controlled by British-Egyptian administrations, but there were many changes from decade to
decade. Some of these are discussed in the paragraphs about Egypt, to follow. In 1885 Major General Charles George
"Chinese" Gordon was killed in Khartoum by Mahdi followers, ending Egyptian suzerainty. The religious leader
Mahdi then established the f irst Sudanese government in Omdurman. Some 13 years later, however, Lord Kitchener
defeated the Sudanese forces (1898) and started the era of the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium, which ruled Sudan for
over 50 years. Just at the end of the century a highly developed Zandes military empire of the Congo basin swept up
into the Sudan, under King Gbudwe, but were repulsed. (Ref. 254 ([41]))
Napoleon Bonaparte had penetrated Egypt in 1798, but the British navy helped the Turks to drive the French out in
1801, allowing Muhammad (also Mehemet) Ali, an Albanian Turk with Albanian soldiers, to invade. In 1803 the
Ottoman Sultan appointed him Pasha (viceroy) of Egypt. There was still a Mamluk garrison present, but in 1811
Muhammad massacred every man in it and emerged as absolute ruler of the country. He then Europeanized the army,
reformed the administration and built up the commercial economy, employing many Europeans, especially Frenchmen.
The cultivation of cotton helped to awaken the somewhat somnolent Islam and Ali was able to extend his control to
Sennar, Arabia, Sudan, Crete and Greece (1825-28) Europeans were considerably upset about all this and a combined
British, French and Russian naval force took Greece away from Ali, ensuring the success of a Greek revolution, which
had been in progress. Later the Europeans made Ali relinquish a portion of Syria that he had annexed and forced him to
settle for hereditary rule over Egypt and the Sudan, only. As a side light of this Near Eastern crisis of 1839-41, a British
squadron compelled the French Navy to withdraw support from Ali and this stimulated the French admiralty to find
new technological means to challenge the British at sea. In turn, this resulted in the development of steam-powered
ships of war. (Ref. 279 ([191]))
Egypt was independent in all but name. Some gold was found in the southern part and the ivory trade enjoyed a boom.
Some 20,000 slaves were imported each year. When Mohammed Ali died in 1849 he left his successors the strongest
government, most efficient army and most prosperous economy in Africa. At that time no part of northeast Africa was
under any European sovereignty. (Ref. 83 ([123])) Muhammad Ali’s grandson, Ismail, educated in France, ascended
75 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17768/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
54
CHAPTER 1. AFRICA
to power with the title of king, while still paying tribute to Constantinople. 30,000 Egyptian soldiers kept northern
Sudan under Turco-Egyptian rule, although there were still tribal chiefs. In south Sudan there was a Shilluk Kingdom
of Nilotic people, although under Turkish suzerainty and a large independent tribal group called "Nuers". (Ref. 83
([123]))
A cholera epidemic of 1831 caused the death of 13% of the population of Cairo.
The first Egyptian railway was constructed in 1854 and others in the Near East followed soon after. By 1875 Egypt was
the only African country with more than 1,000 miles of railroad track, but wheeled vehicles were otherwise nowhere
of use. Long staple cotton had been discovered and put into production in the 1820s and 30s, with new land under
cultivation. Cash crops for export from Egypt included that cotton and tobacco and it should be noted that during the
American Civil War the demand for Egyptian cotton in- creased greatly so that it became worth ten times as much
money as previously. Its worth almost trebled again in the next 45 years. (Ref. 140 ([190]), 83 ([123]))
French interests constructed the Suez Canal in 1869, but the English gained a share of it by purchase from Egypt in
1875 because the canal saved 41% of the mileage from London to Bombay and 29% of that to Singapore. After the
French and English had established a joint control over Egypt in 1880, a native revolt against the British was led by
Arabi Pasha in 1881-82, but the British countered with a military expedition two years later which resulted in actual
British control of the country, although theoretically it was still under Turkish jurisdiction. The French had withdrawn.
In the south the British were repeatedly under attack in the 1880s and 1890s by Muslims led by the Mahdi and his
successor, the Khalifa. (Ref. 139 ([192]), 8 ([14]), 175 ([241]), 83 ([123]))
At the end of the century the British and French again came to blows over the eastern Sudan. The French backed down
and, as mentioned earlier, the Sudan became an Anglo- Egyptian condominium in 1898. Indian immigrants to British
East Africa eventually surpassed whites in number, however, and currently the migration of a great many of these dark,
British citizens to England is giving the administration much trouble. (Ref. 68 ([106]), 154 ([212]), 8 ([14]))
1.33.1.2 NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST AFRICA
This was a period when the North African coast was divided among the imperialistic European powers, chiefly France
and England. As the latter took over Egypt, France became interested in the more western areas, in spite of some
Spanish footholds. Starting about 1830 hundreds of thousands of southern Europeans settled in North Africa, controlling practically all trade, industry and finance, but they did not fuse with the natives racially and they remained a
distant and distinct group, arousing increasing local animosity. In the mountains the Berber Montagnards governed
themselves in cantons or village republics and often some of these grouped loosely together for mutual protection. In
the vast area of the central Sahara the Tauregs, of Berber stock, were arranged in 5 groups or confederations of tribes,
named from the massifs that made up the core of their respective territories. Raiding was the profession of the nobles
and most had large numbers of Negro slaves. (Ref. 83 ([123]))
The bay of Algeria was constantly bickering with the French government over coral fishing concessions and finally in
1830 the French intervened with 37,000 soldiers in 103 ships and launched the largest and most destructive military
campaign in the story of European imperialism in Africa. They had pushed the Ottoman Turks out completely by
1841, but they made the mistake of using Jews, who were despised by the Muslims, for support.
Abd al-Kadir, at the head of a religious group in western Algeria, set up a Muslim theocratic state, which was only
subdued in 1847 by 108,000 French troops. (Ref. 83 ([123])) By that time there were 100,000 European settlers in
Algeria, with the French in control. Further insult to that country occurred in 1867-68 with the worst drought of its
history, along with locusts and cholera. Some 300,000 people died out of a population of 2 1/2 million. The French
also occupied Tunis in 1881, provoking a large scale Islamic uprising, followed by sporadic warfare in the south, in
the next century. Phosphates from Tunis were used as fertilizer in France. (Ref. 8 ([14]), 176 ([242]), 213 ([288]))
Morocco kept foreigners pretty much at bay until 1850, when the French waged a victorious war to become, in essence,
the owner of that country. (Ref. 83 ([123]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
55
In the meantime, the Ottoman Turks had obtained a firm hold on Tripoli, the Fezzan and Cyrenica by 1835. In the
oasis of Jaghbut in the latter country, the Muslim teacher, Sayyid Muhammad al-Sanusi (Grad Sanusi) established a
religious center, which was continued after his death in 1859 by his son, Muhammed al-Mahdi. Missionaries were
sent from the center out along the caravan routes. (Ref. 83 ([123]))
We must not leave this section on North Africa without mentioning its troubles with the new United States of America
at the beginning of this century. Throughout the Napoleonic Wars the United States had attempted to remain neutral
in foreign struggles and had paid almost $2,000,000 or 1/5 of its national income to the Moslem states of Morocco,
Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli for ransom or tolls. When President Jefferson cut out some of the tolls in 1801 the bashaw
of Tripoli declared war on the new nation. In 1804 Commodore Preble attacked Tripoli with the U.S.S. Constitution
and the f rigate Philadelphia, was taken prisoner, but then rescued by the night-time heroics of Lt. Stephen Decature,
in the captured schooner Intrepid. This, coupled with a heroic desert march by William Eaton across Libya, resulted
in a final favorable treaty with Tripoli, which was later repudiated.
1.33.1.3 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
At the beginning of the century the interior of Af rica was almost wholly isolated from the rest of the world. The only
resident Europeans lived precariously along the coasts where the slave forts and trading posts existed. Most of Africa
lagged 100 years behind in economic development, a feature which led to many of the African problems of the 20th
century. It will be convenient to discuss the history of Sub-Saharan Africa in the first half of the century separately
from that of the second half, and in each instance five main areas will be listed. For the first half of the 19th century,
then:
1.33.1.3.1 SUDANIC STATES (Immediately sub-saharan and western forest belt)
In the west there were the theocracies of Futa Toro and Futa Jellon, formed after fierce holy wars conducted by Al-hajj
Umar. At the southwest corner of the great western bulge of Africa some 2,500 former United States slaves formed the
country of Liberia in 1820, introducing American democratic institutions. (Ref. 217 ([68])) In the Niger River bend
the great empires of medieval times had given way to numerous states, chief of which were Segu, Ka’arta and Masina.
Farther east the whole of Hausaland, including the Kingdom of Bornu about Lake Chad, was overrun and destroyed by
the Fulani, under a Tukulor chief, Usman (or Uthman) dan Fodio, in a " jihad" or holy war. The Fulani, of mixed Negro
and Berber origin, had a formidable army of horsemen and from Hausaland they struck east and southwest, forming
a Muslim Empire of Sokoto under the Kanemi Dynasty. By 1850 this was the most extensive political structure in
Africa, comprising 20 provinces in an area of 150,000 square miles between the Sahara and the forest belt. It was
through this empire that Islam penetrated into the southern forest states. Between Lake Chad and the Nile were the
sultanates of Wadai and Darf ut and on the Nile was the Funj Sultan ate of Sennar. All of these communities had
extensive trade across the Sahara, bartering slaves, leather, kola nuts, etc., in exchange for weapons, horses and holy
books. All of the Sudanic states except Segu and Ka’arta had Muslim rulers. (Ref. 211 ([284]), 8 ([14]), 175 ([241]),
68 ([106]))
Ashanti (modern Ghana), Dahomey, Oyo and Benin (modern Nigeria) all had active, relatively progressive kingdoms,
as in the last century. Italian made coins in the form of milled, coral cylinders, perforated in the center and called
"olivette" remained in common usage throughout the 19th century and even to the present day in Nigeria, Sierra Leone
and Liberia. The Africans carry them on a string on their belts. (Ref. 260 ([29]))
(Continue on page 1055) Continue to Sudanic States (Section 1.33.1.3.6: SUDANIC STATES)
1.33.1.3.2 EQUATORIAL AFRICA
This portion of Africa was still an unexplored area and the course of the Congo was unknown to Europeans. Slave
trade to Cuba and Brazil flourished up until 1840, when it was officially banned. The people of the interior Congo
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
56
CHAPTER 1. AFRICA
basin were now chiefly of Negroid stock, speaking Bantu languages, having replaced most of the original pygmoid76
and bushmanoid hunters. (Ref. 83 ([123])) (Continue on page 1056)
1.33.1.3.3 EAST AFRICA AND THE GREAT LAKES AREA
In this part of Africa there were a cluster of strong kingdoms - Bunyoroo, Buganda, Ankole, Karagwe, Rwanda and
Burundi. To the east the hostile Masai terrorized central Kenya and Tanzania as they repeatedly raided for cattle. Arabs
on the east coast grew rich from the sale of ivory from elephant tusks and in the slave trade, which they continued
well past the half century mark. The eastern Bantu-speaking Negroes have lighter skin than others, perhaps from
considerable intermarriage with people of Caucasoid stock. (Ref. 83 ([123])) (Continue on page 1056)
1.33.1.3.4 SAVANNAH SOUTH OF THE CONGO BASIN
Luba-Lunda was ruled by Mwata Yamvo and Mwata Kazemk. The ancient kingdom of Mwene Mtapa in the region
of modern Zimbabwe was rivalled by the Rozwi state of the Changamires. The last people to inhabit the city of
Zimbabwe, which was already somewhat decadent, were apparently driven out about 1830 during the Zulu wars,
which will be discussed in the next paragraph. Into the vacuum so created, the Ndebeles tribe swept in from the
original Zulu area in the south. On the west side of the continent the Portuguese had coastal settlements in what is now
Angola, but after the abolition of the slave trade in 1840, the colonies collapsed and the number of white men there
dropped from 3,000 to less than 1000 by A.D. 1850. (Ref. 175 ([241]), 176 ([242]), 8 ([14]), 35 ([56]), 83 ([123]))
(Continue on page 1057)
1.33.1.3.5 THE CAPE AREA
An expedition along the Orange River in 1801 revealed a city of 10,000 people in the territory now called Botswana,
which is surrounded by desert. Although millet and some legumes were used, the people relied chiefly on cattle, using
the milk in a curdled state.
Both Dutch and British had started settlements near the Cape at the end of the 18th century and in the early years of the
19th they came in contact with a great southward migration of the Bantu-speaking blacks from central Africa. These
included multiple tribes such as Swazi, Zulu, Pondo, Tembu, Xhosa, Sotho and Tswana. There was cattle raiding along
the line of the Fish River and fighting between the Dutch and the natives had broken out in 1779 to last over a hundred
years. After the British officially came into power at Cape Colony by treaty with the Batavian Republic in 1814, they
decided to secure the line of the Fish River by colonization. Between 1820 and 1821 some 5,000 people were brought
there from Great Britain. English began to replace Dutch as the official language, the judicial system was remodel ed
on the English pattern and Dutch currency was replaced by English. But Anglicisation was not completely successful
as the Dutch clung tenaciously to their own culture and institutions so that the only result of the new policy was to
harden those differences of opinion, especially on the native question.
When the English missionaries got slavery abolished in 1833, the settlers were indignant.
The first crisis came in 1834 when hordes of blacks swept over the Fish River frontier, laying waste the country and
destroying the farms. The governor, Sir Benjamin D’Urban, drove them back and annexed the territory to try to prevent
future trouble, but the missionaries forced abandonment of that plan and prevented any compensation for the damaged
farms. Thus was provoked the Great Trek, in which about 5,000 Boers (Dutch), with women, children and cattle, set
out into the unknown, some going as far as 1,000 miles inland, to get away from the British. Many were attacked by
Matabele and the Zulus and all endured thirst and famine.
At about that same time, the empire of the Zulus, under Chaka and his successor Dingaan, began a war of blacks against
blacks, crushing all other tribes in the area and leaving a trail of devastation, rotting corpses and burned villages. Most
of modern Transvaal, Orange Free State and Natal were denuded of population. The massacres of thousands of natives
76 As late as 1890, however, Stanley reported that he had found Mbuti pygmies living in symbiosis with neighboring Negroes in the Ituri forest.
(Ref. 83 ([123]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
57
thus gave the Boers room to move, although in great peril. They, themselves, finally crushed the Zulus in a great battle
at Blood River in 1838 and then established the Republic of Natal in the region east of the Drakenburg range, with
Andries Pretorius as its first president
They then discovered that there was already a garrison of British troops at Port Natal (later Deurbar) and by 1843 the
area was made into a British colony. Most of the Dutch then went back over the range to the region of the Orange and
Vaal rivers to establish the independent Boer state of the South African Republic (Transvaal) and two years later the
Orange Free State. (Ref. 211 ([284]), 154 ([212]), 83 ([123])) (Continue on page 1057)
The last half of the 19th century showed some great changes in those portions of Africa under European control,
but even as late as 1875 those areas were primarily Algeria, Senegal and South Africa, although the pressure was
gradually increasing overall. Although the European slave trade was supposedly banned early in the century, by 1850
some 25,000,000 blacks, supplied by local Africans, had been sent away from the continent by European, American,
and Arab slavers. But Christian missionary activity increased and the hinterlands began to be explored with gun-boats
behind them. As the Europeans gradually increased their coastal influence, the Age of Imperialism in Africa was
initiated. This was about 1860 and we shall now re-examine the five sections of sub-saharan Africa as they received
the impact of the 2nd half of the 19th century:
1.33.1.3.6 SUDANIC STATES
The Ashanti Kingdom comprised most of what is modern Ghana and in 1850 had 3,000,000 to 5,000,000 people in its
125,000 square miles. There was great opulence in the royal court at the capital, Kumasi. In an unusual arrangement,
a new ruler was chosen by the Queen Mother, assisted by senior chiefs. Trade was active in gold, slaves, livestock
and food-stuffs. In neighboring Dahomey there was a royal core of women warriors consisting of some 5,000 women
backed up by 7,000 men. It was their custom to have an annual killing of several score criminals and war captives.
The French began to penetrate along the Senegal River to obtain a profitable gum trade and the British began to occupy
Sierra Leone and to take over the Niger basin.
A crown colony was established at Lago in Nigeria in 1861 and by the 1870s there were 14 British steamers on the
Niger River. On the upper Niger, however, the Tukolors, under their leader al-Haji Umar, were active and expanded to
come up against the French on the Senegal.
1.33.1.3.7 EQUATORIAL AFRICA
White explorers penetrated central Africa in this time period, going chiefly from east to west. Prominent among those
was Sir Henry Morton Stanley77 who explored the Congo for King Leopold of Belgium and then sold the southern
bank area to Belgium. France signed treaties with the Bateke Kingdom for the north bank of the Congo, through
the explorer Savorgnan de Brazza. All of this European penetration would have been impossible without quinine for
control of the endemic malaria. The Dutch had originally obtained that drug from Java.
The scramble for land in Africa by European powers became so intense that in November, 1884 Otto von Bismarck
and the French premier called a Berlin Conference in which 14 nations took part. In addition to agreeing to work for
the further suppression of slavery, the nations agreed to complete liberty of commerce in the Congo basin and adjacent
coasts and the Congo and Niger rivers were to have free navigation.
Deep in the rain forest, however, pygmies and negroids still ruled unmolested by whites. In Katanga, Msiri, with Yeke
followers, established himself as chief and initiated a reign of terror. Fortress grounds were littered with skulls of
people he had tortured and murdered. That empire disappeared by the 1880s. (Ref. 83 ([123]), 8 ([14]), 140 ([190]))
77 Stanley, born in Wales as John Rowlands, took the name of his adoptive father in New Orleans, fought on both sides of the American Civil War,
found David Livingston on Lake Tanganyika in 1817 on commission by the New York Herald and finally sold his services for African exploration
to Belgium. (Ref. 53 ([79]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
58
CHAPTER 1. AFRICA
1.33.1.3.8 EAST AFRICA AND GREAT LAKE AREA
In 1850, through the genius of Sultan Sayyid Said of Oman, Zanzibar was made into an influential center, with a small
army and navy. By 1860, however, it was under some British influence and by 1873 the British navy had stopped the
sultan from trading in slaves. (Ref. 213 ([288])) Buganda, now a province of modern Uganda, launched great raids
under Mutesa I between 1854 and 1883 to obtain slaves, cattle and ivory. For this purpose Mutesa had a large army
and a navy of canoes for use on Lake Victoria. That country also fell under British protection in the 1890s.
In Kenya the basic Kikuyu people had no chiefs and were ruled by a senior elders’ council. They were repeatedly
terrorized by- the Masai, who dominated an area of 80,000 square miles and who had two passions in life - war and
cattle. Because of these warriors, when white explorers such as Burton, Speke, Grant, and Stanley went in to central
Africa they went from the south over dry bush country infested with many tropical diseases.
Even the Masai, themselves, were decimated in the 1880s, but that was from small-pox. The great days of the Masai
ended in the 1890s as the British occupied the Kenya highlands. Many of the large game animals were already
becoming limited and a few, such as the quagga78 , were already extinct.
1.33.1.3.9 SAVANNAH SOUTH OF THE CONGO BASIN
It has been noted previously that Portugal had an early lead in Angola and then she took Mozambique. Actually there
were very few whites in those two areas, including only about a dozen priests. The white men did intermarry with
the natives and kept some measure of control in that way. Germany, not to be outdone, wedged into areas on the
Indian Ocean coast north of Mozambique and Cameroun and in Togo (German Southwest Africa) in the west. In the
second phase of European partition of Africa, after 1895, there was increasing bitter, local African resistance. The
colonial governments had turned to raising money by direct local taxation and corvee, or forced labor systems, had
become widespread. This, along with the expropriation of land, led to more destructive, bitter and longer wars, with
the superior weaponry of the invading Europeans winning in all areas79 . (Ref. 8 ([14]), 83 ([123]))
1.33.1.3.10 THE CAPE AREA
One region where war occurred with white against white, rather than against black, was in South Africa. By 1856 the
Cape population was roughly 267,000, including 119,000 Europeans with a Dutch majority. Natal had about 6,500
people, chiefly English; the Orange Free State had 12,000 Europeans and the Transvaal some 18,000. Both of those
were soon free of English control. By 1857 there were 8 separate governments in South Africa - 5 Boer republics and
3 British colonies. Intermittent fighting continued and when the Boers of Transvaal attacked blacks led by Khama the
Great, in Boswana, the British protected the latter.
Map taken from Reference 97
Two great mineral discoveries began to effect tremendous changes in the area. First, diamonds were discovered in
an old volcano chimney along the Vaal River and at the site of present day Kimberly, bordering English and Boer
states. Within 10 years $100,000,000 worth of diamonds had been mined. The British, who negotiated themselves
into annexing this Kimberly region into the Cape Colony about 1870 and two Englishmen, Cecil John Rhodes and
Barney Barnato, gained most from the diamonds. Secondly, gold was discovered on the Witwatersrand in 1886 and by
1900 some 100,000 men were employed in the gold fields. The gold rush made the original mining camp into the city
of Johannesburg, which then had 237,000 people by 1911 and more than 1,000,000 at this writing. The gold was deep
in the earth, requiring costly machinery and capital to recover it. Rhodes, with a dream to make all Africa British, got
involved only politically in the gold industry as the British attempted to take this over. Conflicts inevitably followed
with eventually a full-scale war. Many British at home were actually pro-Boer, including Lloyd George, but most
of the people were staunchly imperialist. Paul Kruger, who had taken part in the Great Trek, headed the recalcitrant
78 Similar
79 Except,
to a zebra
as we have seen, in Ethiopia, where the Italians met defeat
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
59
Dutch, who were unwilling to make common cause with the British. They opposed any advance of industry, although
ready to feed on its profits.
In spite of long drawn out negotiation, actual war started October 9, 1899 when Boer groups moved over the border.
The latter started with 35,000 men and artillery derived from German sources. Almost all were mounted. The German
presence in the region was actually the main factor which had activated Britain to move north again. Suddenly in 1883
the Germans had run up their flag in Luederitz Bay on the Atlantic and proclaimed the whole of southwest Africa as a
protectorate and began to survey a route for a railroad to the east, linking up with Paul Kruger in the Transvaal and then
on to the east coast. The danger to Britain’s holdings was obvious and so they moved, annexing Pondoland, Zululand
and Tongaland, cutting off the only possible outlet of the Transvaal to the sea and then they took part of Bechuanaland.
The countryside and world opinion was with the Dutch, but the British poured in men and arms and by autumn of
1900 both Boer capitals had been occupied and it seemed that the war was over. But the rebels fought on and were
only finally subdued sufficiently to sue for peace in March 1902 after thousands of men, women and children had been
swept into concentration camps. The total cost in money to the United Kingdom of the Boer War was reckoned at over
220,000,000 pounds. The British lost five times as many men from disease as from battle and left a legacy of mistrust
and bitterness. (Ref. 8 ([14]), 160 ([219]), 175 ([241]), 322 ([104]), 140 ([190]))
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era80
America (Section 2.33)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.33)
Europe (Section 4.33)
The Far East (Section 6.33)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.33)
The Near East (Section 7.33)
Pacific (Section 8.33)
80 "A.D.
1801 to 1900" <http://cnx.org/content/m17730/latest/>
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
60
CHAPTER 1. AFRICA
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
Chapter 2
America
2.1 Geographical Presentation of America1
Back to Introduction to the Method of Geographical Presentation2
The last geographical area which will be discussed under each time-frame will be the whole of the New World,
America. Since this consists of two major continents with an intermediate connecting region, the area will be divided
into three subdivisions.
2.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
This geographical area is shown on the map-diagram opposite. In the text the historical material will often be further
divided into [1] The Far North and Canada and [2] The United States. Since we are interested in a geographical
area, not necessarily political boundaries, the first category of "The Far North and Canada", will include Alaska and
Greenland, even though the former, of course, is a part of the United States and the latter belongs to Denmark. The
second portion will actually be limited to the continental United States. It will be of interest to compare latitudes on
this diagram with those of Europe and the Far East. For example, we will be reminded that the British Isles lie at about
the same parallel as the southern part of Hudson Bay in Canada and that the center of the United States is on the same
latitude as north China and the Tarim Basin in Central Asia. The Bering Strait, the middle of Hudson Bay and the
southern tip of Greenland are all on approximately the same latitude as Leningrad in Russia.
1 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17882/1.3/>.
to the Method of Geographical Presentation" <http://cnx.org/content/m17890/latest/>
2 "Introduction
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
61
62
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
Figure 2.1: North America (This map was obtained from http://english.freemap.jp/index.html3 and is used with
permission under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license4 .)
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
63
2.1.2 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
The map-diagram showing this and the next subdivision is on the second- page ahead. Mexico is shown in violet color,
while Central America and the Caribbean islands are in yellow. The Canary and southern equatorial currents, which
have been important in the discovery of the New World, are shown. The present political lines in Central America
are shown, marking Guatemala, Belize, San Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama, going from
northwest to southeast.
2.1.3 SOUTH AMERICA
On the South American map the rough course of the main rivers and the general extent and location of the cordillera
are shown. No attempt has been made to outline the current borders between the various countries, but the general
areas of the most important are indicated. In the main body of the manuscript in some time-frames this continent is
divided into [1] Western and Northern Coastal Areas and [2] Eastern and Central Areas.
3 http://english.freemap.jp/index.html
4 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
64
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
Figure 2.2: Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America (This map was obtained from
http://english.freemap.jp/index.html5 and is used with permission under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license6 .)
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
65
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Africa (Section 1.1)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.1)
Europe (Section 4.1)
The Far East (Section 6.1)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.1)
The Near East (Section 7.1)
Pacific (Section 8.1)
2.2 America: Beginning to 8000 B.C.7
2.2.1 NORTH AMERICA
At sometime between 40,000 and 10,000 B.C. human hunting groups occupied all the main land masses of earth except
Antarctica. Men reached America about 20,000 B.C. (perhaps earlier) from Asia over a land bridge between Asia and
Alaska, varying from three hundred to one thousand miles wide and apparently including the Aleutian Islands where
blades and burins, perhaps dating back to 10,000 B.C. have been found. Otherwise the earliest known cultures of the
American far north have not been well dated8 . The so-called British Mountain Culture near the Yukon Arctic coast is
probably the oldest, with artifacts of eastern Siberia, including crude instruments and shaping tools. There, in the Old
Crow Basin, the first known occupation site in the New World has been tentatively carbon-dated to 25,000 B.C. The
inhabitants were skilled users of bone, using mammoth and horse bone, the latter animals ranging in size from ponies
to Percherons. Jaws of domesticated dogs appear to be 30,000 years old. At any rate, the people who came over the
land bridge apparently simply followed their prey animals and were of a basic, general Mongoloid stock with skulls
not much different from Caucasians and their descendants became the American Indians. The tools and skills spread
from Asia to America with them and included the stone adze, spoons, combs of bone or horn, the toggle harpoon and
eventually the bow and arrow. Marshack (Ref. 130 ([180])) says the American Indians came in waves from Asia over
a period of perhaps 20,000 years with some as late as 2,000 B.C. The latter figure is not further explained. We know
that the land bridge was present off and on over several millennia, but never as late as 2,000 B.C. It is interesting that
as late as 1962 this theory of the Asiatic origin of the American aborigines was not universally accepted. Greeman
(Ref. 78 ([118])) was committed to diffusion across the north Atlantic in skin-covered boats in the Upper Paleolithic
times. He felt that Sandia Culture material in America was the same as the Solutrean of the Montaut site in southwest
France. Blood typing studies beginning with Boyd (Ref. 17 ([30])) in 1963 probably laid this theory to rest.
The great bulk of the people coming over the Bering land bridge may not have been able to migrate down into the
region of the United States and farther south until about 12,000 years ago when the ice that had previously almost
covered Canada finally melted enough to open a corridor east of the Rockies, at which time the Mongoloid hunters
poured through to the gamelands of the American plains. Dr. Knut Fladmark (as quoted by Canby [Ref. 22 ([38])]) of
British Columbia argues that some men could have come south when the corridor was closed by leapfrogging down
the coast where there were many ice-free pockets, by boat. Furthermore, recent work shows positively that much of
the coast line and island archipelago off the coast of southern Alaska was never covered by glaciers at any time. (Ref.
239 ([320]))
A slightly different view is given by Swanson et al (Ref. 209 ([282])) who states that the first crossing of the Bering
Strait occurred from 26,000 to 28,000 years ago and that these people became the American Indians with blood types
chiefly O, with some A and no B. Then a second migration took place between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago which
perhaps included the Eskimos who have AB and 0 blood types. They may have come by kayak from one shore to
5 http://english.freemap.jp/index.html
6 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
7 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17803/1.2/>.
(Ref. 222 ([296])) even states that racemization tests on bone suggest that Neanderthal man may have been on the west coast of the
western hemisphere at 50,000 B.C., but we have not seen confirmation from any other author and Trager does not reveal his source material.
8 Trager
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
66
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
another as Eskimos today still live on both sides of the Bering Strait. By 10,000 B.C. prehistoric hunters were in
all parts of the New World, even at Tierra del Fuego. Some fishing and gathering populations were very large. The
highest average population density north of Mexico was in California where there were the acorn gatherers, a group
which was so successful that they were not apt to experiment with new techniques. The most recent glaciation period
in North America reached its maximum between 18,000 and 22,000 years ago and extended down to New York State
and central Ohio, covering Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and parts of Kansas and Missouri. After 12,000 B.C.
this retreated rapidly, sometimes several miles in a single year.
At 9,000 B.C. the American plains still teemed with giant bison, camels, stagmoose, musk-oxen, large cats, mastodons
and three kinds of mammoths. Most of these were gone within 1,000 years of man’s arrival. The dating of the flint
spearheads of the Sandia Culture which have been found in Oregon, Ontario and New Mexico have been variously
dated from 23,000 to 6,000 B.C. At any rate it was along the retreating ice edge, where the spruce forest and pines
migrated north and west from the Appalachians and the oak moved north from the Gulf, that the increased parkland
and grass allowed the human population, now with a radical new stone technology, to greatly increase. This was the
time of the Great Hunting Culture, associated with the Clovis points of the Sandia Culture mentioned above. These
Clovis points (so named because first identified near Clovis, New Mexico) were large, heavy flint points designed for
hunting large animals, and butchered elephants have been excavated dating to the period 9,500 to 9,000 B.C. In some
areas this culture, also sometimes called Llano, has been dated from 11,000 to 15,000 years ago. The Folsom spear
points which developed from the Clovis were smaller and more delicately made, for effective use by the bison hunters.
As temperatures rose and the cloud cover diminished, there was an increased evaporation rate, the plant cover thinned
and the great herds declined rapidly. Some feel that prior to the temperature rise the north-south corridor opened up
in the glaciers allowing arctic winds to descend on the plains, and the sudden drop in temperature was a factor in the
dying off of the giant bison and mastodons. The Desert Tradition of western North America, dating from about 9,000
B.C. was centered in the Great Basin of Nevada between the two great mountain chains and occupying portions of
six present states - Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon and California. Baskets and milling stones were made and the
subsistence base included small seeds, berries, bulrush rhizomes and nuts.
In eastern United States, some forty miles south of Pittsburg is the Meadowcroft rock shelter where remains of Ice
Age man includes a bifacial projectile point which may be ancestral to the Clovis point. The carbon-14 dating of the
hearth is 14,000 B.C. but some doubt if this date is correct. (Ref. 211 ([284]), 209 ([282]), 210 ([283]), 8 ([14]), 22
([38]), 64 ([94]), 224 ([299]), 45 ([66]), 21 ([34]))
Concerning blood types, most North American Indians are exclusively type O but a few, such as the Sioux, Chippewa
and Pueblo have 10 to 15% Group A while the rest are O. These may represent separate and later migration groups
over the Bering land bridge, or, as shall be discussed later, possibly mixtures with Europeans or later Asiatics. (Ref.
21 ([34]), 155 ([214]))
Additional Notes (p. 67)
2.2.2 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN
The National Geographic Society (Ref. 155 ([214])) says that artefacts suggest man’s presence at Puebla, Mexico
by 20,000 B.C. although such early dates are not universally accepted. The rock shelters near Tehuacan have been
continuously occupied since 10,000 B.C. In Central America gourd and squash date to prehistory along with various
wild forms of beans, lentils and chickpeas. (Ref. 211 ([284]))
2.2.3 SOUTH AMERICA
The tools of Pleistocene men who hunted camelids, sloths and perhaps horses have been unearthed at the bottom of
a rock shelter on the western slope of the Andes cordillera. The presence of humans has been attested 13,000 years
ago in Venezuela, Argentina and Peru. During the last phase of the Ice Age (the Wisconsin in North America) the
Andean glaciers were as low as 11,000 feet and their melting later may account for the rarity of human sites during
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
67
that chaotic period of terrific gorge flooding. After that, however, the Andes were certainly inhabited by numerous
bands corresponding to the archaic societies of North America. In central Peru, at Chilca, where at 12,000 to 13,000
feet altitude only eight inches of rain fall in a year, caves with as many as fourteen archeological strata have been
excavated. Perfectly preserved corpses of several people have been found indicating a stout but tall physique, varying
from 65.2 to 69.2 inches in height according to sex, with long heads, protuberant jaws and strong bones. They had
clothes made of cactus plant fibers or of reeds. Some had cloaks of vicuna skin, painted and sewn with the help of
cactus spines. Weapons were slings and spear throwers with javelin points made from obsidian, basalt or quartz. Hand
axes and scrapers were very similar to the European Mousterians’, although separated in time by some 20,000 years.
At about 13,000 B.C. the waters of the Pacific were some three hundred feet below present level, and at times since
then they have been sixteen feet above the present level and have oscillated through the ages. This may have greatly
disturbed the lives of the early dwellers by virtue of changes in the fresh water levels of the beaches of arid, western
Peru.
Human living sites along with bones of sloths, horses, camelids and mastodons have also been found in the sierra
region (the Atlantic Andes) of Columbia and Venezuela. Men may have reached the extreme tip of South America at
Falls’ Cave by 9,000 B.C. or shortly thereafter, but there may be some disagreement as to their origin. In this area
Patagonian caves were inhabited during the high Holocene and immigrants from Australia or Southeast Asia may
have entered the continent via Antarctica and the island of Tierra del Fuego. Still later other settlers came from the
eastern Andes. On Tierra del Fuego the chief people were Onas - big, handsome men dressed in vicuna skins. They
had domesticated dogs and poison arrows and removed their body hair with shells used as pincers.
The Lagoa Santa caves in Brazil show charcoal dating to between 18,000 and 20,000 B.C. and tools along with
mastodon bones dating to 9,400 B.C. have been found in central Chile. El Ingo is a pre-ceramic site at an altitude of
9,100 feet in Ecuador, dating back to about 10,000 B.C. showing an obsidian workshop and hunting camp site. The
tools show similarity to Folsom and Clovis points of North America. (Ref. 45 ([66]), 22 ([38]), 62 ([91])) Additional
Notes (p. 67)
It has been the belief of authorities in the past that all Central and South American Indians had the blood type 0
exclusively. Very recent ABO blood-group antigen and HL-A white cell studies indicate that this was not true of
Peruvian and Chilean coastal peoples even at 3,000 B.C. Both A and B were found in mummies of Paracas, Huari and
Ica while AB was found in these areas plus those of the Huacho and Nazca. Only the Inca mummies were 100% 0
and only five of these were studied. Of only four Chile Atacamenas mummies typed, all were type A. We do not know
what this means, but it is possible that these studies are compatible with ideas of pre-Columbian diffusion from Europe
or Asia, a feature we shall discuss later. (Ref. 3 ([4])) Professor Frederic Andre Engel (Ref. 62 ([91])) who has spent
most of his adult life as an archeologist in South America re-emphasizes that although one must accept an Asiatic
foundation, evidences of strong foreign influences appear almost everywhere in the Americas, even in pre-Columbian
times.
NOTE : Paleo-Indian skeletons have been found near Waco. Texas radio-carbon dated to 10,000 years ago.
Artifacts buried with them indicate trade, with sea shell pendants, red flints from the Texas Panhandle,
projectile points from the plains and some tools. Some burial objects indicate a death ritual, perhaps related
to a religion. Bones of cooked rabbits, turtles, raccoons and snakes were present. (Ref. 298 ([128]))
NOTE : Rock art has been found in Brazil dated to 17,000 B.C. and at the tip of South America dating to
10,000 B.C. (Ref. 260 ([29]))
Forward to America: 8000 to 5000 B.C. (Section 2.3)
Choose Different Region
1. Intro to Era9
2. Africa (Section 1.2)
9 "Beginning
to 8000 B.C." <http://cnx.org/content/m17804/latest/>
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
68
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.2)
Europe (Section 4.2)
The Far East (Section 6.2)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.2)
The Near East (Section 7.2)
Pacific (Section 8.2)
2.3 America: 8000 to 5000 B.C.10
2.3.1 NORTH AMERICA
Back to America: Beginning to 8000 B.C. (Section 2.2)
The land bridge from Siberia to Alaska became inundated about 8,000 B.C. and, as mentioned previously, the later
arriving Eskimos and Aleuts came by boat and represented the later, classical Mongolian race, as contrasted to the
earlier original Mongolian stock who came over about 20,000 B.C. Possibly still later came the Athapascans, who
slowly moved inland where many still live today in central, northern Canada. Some of these Athapascans eventually
migrated down to the southwest United States where they became the Apaches and Navajos. Additional Notes (p. 69)
In the United States area big game hunting continued throughout this period but with a gradual decrease in the number
of animals available. By 8,000 B.C. North American Indian culture was already divided into three great patterns:
• Eastern Woodlands, which will later be called "Archaic"
• Desert, possibly related to Eastern Woodland
• Western Paleo-Indian
Although the Eastern Woodlands actually existed from 8,000 B.C. to about 1,000 B.C., during this 8,000 to 5,000 B.C.
period under discussion it was called "Early Archaic" and was characterized by big game hunting with fishing and
shell and plant gathering. Burial mounds were being built in eastern Canada by 5,000 B.C. (Ref. 213 ([288])) In the
mid-west there was a related sub-culture called "Modoc", with evidence of mano and metate (stone mortar and pestle)
existing about 7,200 B.C. Another variation existed in the Ozarks, Oklahoma and Mississippi. Additional Notes (p.
70)
The Western Paleo-Indian Culture was originally a big game hunting tradition congregated in the Great Basin lying
between the Cascade Mountains of southern Oregon and the Rockies of Idaho and running south through Nevada,
western Utah and the eastern part of California. The "Old Cordilleran Tradition" is a name given to the culture of
Indians in the Oregon and Washington areas dating from 7,800 to 5,700 B.C. who used characteristic flaked stone
points known as "Cascade points". Around 7,000 B.C. some of the hunters from the Great Basin area migrated south
into the mountains and tablelands of the southwest- i.e. southern Colorado and Utah, along with Arizona, New Mexico
and the Mexican states of Sonoro and Chihuahua. This migration was probably precipitated by weather changes which
were making semi-arid deserts of the previous great savannahs of the Basin, and the consequent disappearance of the
game. One large branch of these ancient immigrants to the southwest has been given the name recently of "Cochise"
(from a county in Arizona). The so-called Sulfur Springs Phase of this culture ran from 7,000 to 5,000 B.C. and was
a society dependent on hunting ancient horses, mammoths, antelope and bison with flaked projectile points. The Lake
Mojave area of southern California has yielded kite-shaped points, choppers, drills and scrapers, some of which have
been dated back to 9,000 B.C. At 6,000 B.C. the climate changed with a marked rise in temperature associated with
drought. The great herds died out including the mastodons and camels. Many areas were denuded and there was a
shifting of Indian population and a change in their living patterns. (Ref. 45 ([66]), 209 ([282]), 210 ([283]))
10 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17783/1.3/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
69
2.3.2 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN
By 7,000 B.C. in the Tehuacan Valley of Mexico there were people living in rock shelters and using stone cooking
pots which were left in the center of the hearth. Maize was used in the same valley between 6,000 and 5,000 B.C.
and at some point the turkey was domesticated. Before the development of pottery some peoples may have used
animal stomachs as liquid containers to hang over fires. In the same valley there is evidence of the use of six food
resources–the maguey plant, cactus fruits (prickly pear), tree legumes like the mesquite, wild grasses, deer and rabbits.
Cultivated plants probably made up only 5% of the diet, as opposed to 54% from hunting and 41% from collecting
wild plants. The common bean and maize were introduced into the valley about 5,000 B.C. Maize apparently went
under considerable genetic change with cultivation, but since it lacks an important amino acid, it was fortunate for the
Indians that it was eaten in connection with beans, which supplied the deficit. (See also Africa in the 16th century C.E.
(Section 1.30)). There was squash in the Mexican highlands before 5,000 B.C. (Ref. 211 ([284]), 209 ([282]))
2.3.3 SOUTH AMERICA
As early as 8,000 B.C. the need for artistic expression apparently existed in the high Andes. We mentioned in the last
chapter that prehistoric people had painted clothing, but now we can add necklaces, bracelets, carved pendants and
geometrically marked bones, painted green. These people ate prickly pear cactus, alder seeds, tomatoes and plants
with rhizomes and tubers such as jiquimas, potatoes, ullucu and possibly manioc and sweet potatoes. There is also
refuse of many land mammals such as bucks and roe deer, vixcahas, camelids and rodents, as well as the remains of
fish. Although the caves were sixty miles from the ocean, marine mollusks have been found, suggesting that these
men migrated at times to the seashore, probably living in the condensed fog oases called lomas, as the beach land
otherwise is completely arid. By 7,000 B.C. there were all sorts of projectile points in Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia and
Peru. Long-headed human skeletons along with both extinct and modern animals have been found in Brazil dated to
the same time.
Natives of both Americas are of extremely varied types. In South America there are people with Caucasian appearance
but dark brown skin, along with Mongolian types with African faces, but of pale or sallow complexion. Big, straight
non-aquiline noses are seen frequently near Cuzco in the high Andes, where non-Mongolian characteristics mix with
true Asiatic ones. Many scholars such as Julian Steward, Paul Rivet, Miguel Covarrubias and Heine Gildern, as well as
Heyerdahl and Fell, who will be mentioned often in this manuscript, are all coming to the conclusion that transoceanic
voyages from southern Asia, Polynesia, even Australia or Africa, have helped people the New World since the Bering
Strait migration. The early men of 8,000 to 4,000 B.C. unearthed in the excavations of Professor Engel (Ref. 62 ([91]))
were all dolichocephals, prognathous, big-boned and tall, whereas the 16th century people found by the Spaniards were
of only mediocre height, meso or brachycephalic with short limbs and slender frames.
By 6,000 B.C. some Andean populations were already advanced to the stage of comparable groups in the Near East,
not yet true farmers or herders, but living a sedentary type of life, occupying well defined territories. On a south
Peruvian plain between mountain spurs, inland from the coast at about the 16th parallel, there were hundreds of
inhabitants using water from now dry wadis. Seashore villages of the same millennium have also been found and
because of the complete surface dessication, humans have been uncovered by simply brushing off the sand. They
still have their clothes, skin and eyes after 7,000 to 9,000 years. Milling stones have been found in every hut and in
graves, particularly in the Santa Valley of Peru and the eastern Andes. It is possible that llamas and alpacas began to
be domesticated on the eastern slopes at about 6,000 B.C.
In the Columbia and Venezuela areas between 7,000 and 3,000 B.C. Meso-Indians lived, eating seafood, berries, seeds,
roots and tubers. Remnant now can be identified by the large mounds of shells, ashes and food debris. These northern
South Americans were also navigators, for traces of the same people are found on all adjacent islands. Documentation
regarding humid Chile and Argentina is lacking in this early period, although groups of pre-agriculturalists certainly
occupied the western slope of the Chilean Andes at times about 8,000 B.C. although perhaps not continuously. It is
possible that some fifty valleys in central Peru and arid Chile were inhabited by groups of up to 2,000 people before
agriculture appeared on the coast. (Ref. 209 ([282]), 45 ([66]), 62 ([91]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
70
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
NOTE : Excavations at Anangula Island in the Aleutian chain show evidence of settlement there around 7,000
B.C. Mummies on neighboring islands are wrapped in furs and woven grasses. (Ref. 310 ([204]))
NOTE : Paleo-Indian skeletons, a man and boy with heads resting on turtle shells, found at Round Rock,
Texas, have been dated at about 7000 B.C. (Ref. 298 ([128]))
Forward to America: 5000 to 3000 B.C. (Section 2.4)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era11
Africa (Section 1.3)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.3)
Europe (Section 4.3)
The Far East (Section 6.3)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.3)
The Near East (Section 7.3)
Pacific (Section 8.3)
2.4 America: 5000 to 3000 B.C.12
2.4.1 NORTH AMERICA
Back to America: 8000 to 5000 B.C. (Section 2.3)
2.4.1.1 1. FAR NORTH AND CANADA
In the far north there was a micro-blade tradition called "Little Arm" with evidence of caribou and elk hunting dated
from 5,500 to 4,000 B.C. In Canada by 4,000 B.C. the Maritime Provinces were settled by hunters, fishers, and
gatherers. The Columbia plateau folks, previously mentioned, were hunting elk and deer in the forests of Douglas fir
and western yellow pine, and fishing for salmon in the Columbia by 9,000 B.C. (Ref. 209 ([282]), 45 ([66]))
2.4.1.2 2. THE UNITED STATES
Between 5,000 and 3,800 B.C. the temperature lowered again and precipitation increased so that some game returned
as the climate approached what it is today. Even so the hunting cultures gradually gave way to a type in which the
people were not specialized in a single skill but were versatile enough to attempt other things.
In the Eastern Woodlands there was now a "Middle Period" with great variation from area to area. Some used antlers
and bones for fish-hooks, spears and harpoons, some learned to use copper for tools and ornaments. In the latter
respect, a distinctive culture of the Great Lakes and upper Mississippi Valley, beginning about 4,500 B.C., was the
"Old Copper Culture" in which the metal was worked either in the cold or hot state, but it was never melted or cast.
Knives, barbed harpoon points and atlatl weights (throwing sticks) were made in this way. There was no big game
present and most of the inhabitants of the eastern societies used steatite vessels. The earliest of the Archaic Cultures is
sometimes called the southern "Indian Knoll Society", with a later northern Lauretain Culture about the Great Lakes
and on eastward where along the Labrador coast it eventually came face to face with Eskimos. (Ref. 64 ([94]), 45
([66]), 209 ([282]))
The western Desert Culture was oriented toward plants, collecting of small seeds and roots for food. Plant fibers were
used for baskets, footwear and nets for snares.
11 "8000
12 This
to 5000 B.C." <http://cnx.org/content/m17707/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17782/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
71
In the southwest, the Chircahua Phase of the Cochise Culture made its appearance about 5,000 B.C. and was to last
about 3,000 years. It was there that maize first appeared in the United States, sometime between 3,000 and 2,000
B.C., apparently brought up from Mexico where it had been cultivated long before. The Cochise could grow the corn
because they had the soil, the right growing season and the necessary skills and tools. They could already weave
baskets in which to store it and had long used grinding tools to pulverize seeds and nuts. This early desert society later
gave way to the Pueblo and Mexican empires. In California the San Diego County Archeological Society recently
brought suit against a land development firm, alleging that it intentionally marred a site thought to have been occupied
by La Jolla Indians 3,000 to 7,000 years ago13 . Excavations on Catalina Island just off the California coast, show that
man gorged himself on abalone in the 4th millennium B.C., almost wiping out the colonies (Ref. 106 ([152]), 211
([284]), 45 ([66]), 210 ([283]))
2.4.2 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
Santa Luisa, in the Veracruz area was occupied before 4,000 B.C. and became major trade center with an extensive
irrigation system . The people were successful hunters and gatherers as well as early farmers. By 3,500 Mexican cave
inhabitants relied heavily on agriculture. One third of their food came from domesticated plants, including maize,
beans and others. Maize was destined to play the same role here that wheat and barley did in the Near East. In the
Tamaulipas Mountains they had begun to domesticate summer squash and chili pepper, and the bottle gourd (as a water
container). Early man also ate grasshoppers, ants and termites.
We speculated at the beginning of this chapter that the time of about 3,100 B.C. might have been a milestone in history
when some fantastic upheaval occurred in the Atlantic, with far-reaching secondary effects in the development of
early civilizations in Egypt and the Near East. It is amazing then, to find the zero date in the incredibly accurate Maya
Calendar, which will be described later, to be "4 Ahau Cumhu", which converts to our calendar as August 12, 3,113
B.C.! No satisfactory explanation of that date has ever been given, but Maya written and oral texts and those of their
descendant civilizations claim descent from a civilized people who sailed in from the east! (Ref. 236 ([314]), 211
([284]), 95 ([140]))
2.4.3 SOUTH AMERICA
Dating to probably about 5,000 B.C., in those last centuries before real agriculture, is the partially excavated village on
a loma at Paloma on the dry Peruvian coast. The village extends over 1,900 feet in length at an altitude of 660 to 825
feet. Engle (Ref. 62 ([91])) excavated only 2 trenches, removing 35,000 cubic feet of ruble, using only trowels and
brushes. Some 90 graves and 45 huts were thus exposed and from that he estimated, by extrapolation, that complete
uncovering of the entire village areas would involve 7,000,000 cubic feet of debris to be removed to reveal 9,000
graves in and around some 4,000 to 5,000 houses. Obviously this was not done.
Radio-carbon datings indicate that cotton and beans were present in the upper inter-Andean valleys about 6,000 B.C.
but in the coastal villages they were not present until 5,000 B.C. or shortly thereafter. At Chilca, about 45 miles south
of Lima, portions of another village have been excavated, showing multiple archeological layers, indicating multiple
re-occupations. Carbon 14 dating indicates the earliest habitation at 3,500 B.C. Large mollusks were present but are
no longer to be found, so the shore line may then have been much farther east and the retreat of the ocean-line and
consequently the mollusks, may have led to the abandonment of the site. Only a few sites have been uncovered, since
a cubic yard of kitchen midden weighs about 2,600 pounds and so sifting a village of 7 1/2 acres that forms a mound
1 yard thick means the "—sifting some 36,000 tons of debris, the equivalent of a train 1,000 cars long"14 .
13 Complaints have been made that other construction projects have destroyed hundreds of prehistoric Indian sites in California. Estimates give
more than 600 Yokuts villages, campsites and burial grounds in Merced and Stanislaus counties. Logging operations in the Sierra Nevada range
have churned up innumerable similar sites. Along the south coast there were Chumash, Gabrielinos, Fernandenos and some others, depending upon
a fishing and food gathering existence. These people were apparently free of intertribal wars and did not have the cyclical famines suffered by
groups dependent upon farm crops. They lived in large villages, used plank canoes and traded with villages on the Channel Islands, often bartering
the coastal basketry for effigies carved from the steatite rock of Catalina (Ref. 106 ([152])).
14 From Engel (Ref. 62 ([91])), page 98.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
72
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
Maize was brought down from Mexico, but potatoes and manioc were developed from local plants. The earliest dated
pottery in the New World is from Colombia, from 3,090 B.C., sand-tempered with wide-lined incising. Cotton has
been used for at least 4,000 to 6,000 years in the Andes, replacing other plants that could be used for spinning and
making cloth.
We have written something of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego in the last chapter. The islands of the western archipelago
off the tip of South America were still blocked by ice until about 5,000 B.C. and the Alacaluf arrived after that time.
They were a little people with the men ranging from 61 to 62.5 inches and the women 56.9 to 57.7 inches, with a truly
Asiatic appearance, including thick black hair, Mongoloid spots and very little body hair. They lived entirely from the
ocean, diving off boats made of boards sewed together. Later these people were sold as slaves by the Chonos to the
north. (Ref. 45 ([66]), 62 ([91]))
Forward to America: 3000 to 1500 B.C. (Section 2.5)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era15
Africa (Section 1.4)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.4)
Europe (Section 4.4)
The Far East (Section 6.4)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.4)
The Near East (Section 7.4)
Pacific (Section 8.4)
2.5 America: 3000 to 1500 B.C.16
2.5.1 FAR NORTH AND CANADA
Back to America: 5000 to 3000 B.C. (Section 2.4)
There were always more people on the Aleutian Islands than on the mainland, because of a milder climate. Nevertheless, from 4,000 to 1,000 B.C. an Arctic Small Tool tradition existed in Alaska, spreading across the arctic part of
Canada to Greenland, given its name from the miniature blades lashed to handles of bone or walrus ivory used for
cutting and scraping skins. The blades were chipped from a core of chert, a rock of micro-crystalline quartz. These
Asiatic people even migrated to Ellesmere Island in northeastern Canada, less than 800 miles from the North Pole,
about 2,300 B.C., crossing over the mountains in a great notch, today known as Sverdrup Pass, to the upper end of
Baffin Bay, which usually has open water at least in the summer. Canadian archeologists have excavated some of these
pre-historic sites, where the earliest are now thirty to thirty-five meters above the present sea level, although they were
originally on the beach. As in other northern areas of the globe, the earth’s crust has risen slowly over the centuries
after the lifting of the great weight of the glacial ice. From Ellesmere Island progress into northern Greenland over
winter ice was no problem. By about 1,500 B.C. in British Columbia (and Washington state) people were settled in
villages and fished for salmon, although they did not practice cultivation. (Ref. 209 ([282]), 45 ([66]), 189 ([259]))
This is the era of the so-called Red Paint Culture, with native Amerindian Stone Age traditions derived from old
northeastern Asia. The Red Paint or Moorehead Culture originally described from prehistoric graveyards in Maine
- the graves containing red ochre has now been identified as part of a larger maritime Archaic tradition extending
from northern Labrador at the 60th parallel to southern Maine between about 2,000 and 1,500 B.C. This area was
deglaciated about 7,000 B.C. with tundra then present until about 3,000 when spruce forests finally appeared. The
settlement pattern and life styles of these Red Paint people seems to have been different from both the Eskimos and
15 "5000
16 This
to 3000 B.C." <http://cnx.org/content/m17706/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17781/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
73
the Montagnais-Naskopi Indians of inland Labrador and Quebec. Hunting, fishing, trading tools and raw materials and
burying their dead were definable activities. The roots of this culture may have extended back several thousand years
to the Paleo-Indian hunters of the now submerged continental shelf. (Ref. 69 ([107]))
2.5.2 THE UNITED STATES
The reader is advised to review the preceding two paragraphs concerning Maine and Washington State. In the east
the eastern Archaic Culture was changing about 2,000 B.C. in that there was the manufacture of some crude pottery
and there was an increased attention to burial observances. Some call this the beginning of the Woodland Culture and
others call it simply the Late Period of the Archaic of the Eastern Woodland. At the same time, in the southwestern
states, specialized desert cultures continued to develop from the Archaic. As recorded in the last chapter, the Cochise
began cultivating corn sometime from 3,000 to 2,000 B.C., providing them extra nourishment for their uncertain diet.
Squash now was also brought up from Mexico and tiny gardens of both have been found all over the Cochise wandering
area. Santa Catalina Island, twenty miles off the California coast, as previously noted, was inhabited and some forty
Indian town sites have been identified. It is obvious that coastal Indians had facilities for ocean travel. (Ref. 45 ([66]),
64 ([94]), 210 ([283]), 187 ([256]))
2.5.3 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
The "Pre-Classic Age" of Middle America traditionally began about 2,000 B.C. with Mayan ancestors being simple
village farmers, although the earliest Maya carbon dating on the Caribbean side of Yucatan goes back to between 2,750
and 2,450 B.C. It is entirely possible the Maya beginnings may go back to Ecuador at 3,000 B.C. while the Olmec
civilization began separately on the Gulf coast much later. In 1977 Norman Hammond (Ref. 85 ([126])) published
results of archeological excavations in Belize (formerly British Honduras) which seem to confirm the origins of the
Maya back at about 2,600-2,500 B.C. He describes a lowland pottery called "Swash", found in burial sites with
human skeletons. The adults among the latter showed advanced tooth wear, suggesting abrasives in their diet. The
Maya steeped corn in slaked lime before boiling, to soften it (and incidentally it released certain amino-acids not
otherwise absorbable) and this lime, along with grit derived in the grinding process probably accounted for the tooth
wear. These individuals also constructed raised earth platforms in swamps by digging out drainage channels and
throwing the mud up to make platforms on which various crops were grown. The presence of jade, not naturally
present within 350 kilometers, indicates a trade network. Their Swasey ceramics - colorful, decorative and mature are different from that of Mexico and the southern United States of 2,500 B.C., but are similar to Ecuadorian pottery
of this period. Throughout Central America maize-farming had become the basis of life by 1,500 B.C. and the farmers
lived in permanent villages. By the same date in the Tehuacan Valley of Mexico, there was complex village life,
pottery, elaborated religious rituals and intricate social organization. Corn and pottery have been dated to 2,000 B.C.
in Panama. (Ref. 45 ([66]), 95 ([140]), 85 ([126]), 64 ([94]), 62 ([91]))
2.5.4 SOUTH AMERICA
Valdiva, as a coastal society in Ecuador, like Panama, had corn and pottery by about 2,000 B.C.17 . Evans and Meggers,
of the Smithsonian Museum, are impressed with the similarities between Valdivian pottery and the Jomon pottery
of Japan, believing Ecuador may have been the landing place of a Japanese immigration, thus bringing one more
possibility of Asian diffusion to the Americas. We shall examine other ideas in other chapters. Potatoes were cultivated
in the Andes by 3,000 B.C., manioc was grown on the tropical lowlands and there were domesticated animals in South
America shortly after 2,000 B.C. Ceremonial centers found along the desert coast of Peru date to about the same
time as did evidence of metal working. The Ancon Yacht site on the coast of Peru, dated 2,500 to 2,000 B.C. showed
chipped leaf points, string, turned cloth and baskets, wooden tools, shell fishhooks and cultivated plants which included
gourds, cotton and chili peppers.
17 Thomas
(Ref. 213 ([288])) says the Ecuadorians had pottery even earlier, at 3,200 B.C.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
74
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
The Peruvians used the potato by 3,000 and soon domesticated the guinea pig for food. Coastal Peruvians gathered
protein-rich shell fish off the beaches by 2,800 and by 2,500 B.C., when the villages were large, far out ocean fishing
for larger fish was common. (Ref. 62 ([91]), 45 ([66]), 209 ([282]), 211 ([284]), 222 ([296]))
Early farmers were probably well established on the Ecuadorian sea coast and river plains by 3,000 B.C. Contact with
Mesoamerica was certainly possible by water, but otherwise there was a 2,000 mile jungle stretch between them. What
Engel (Ref. 62 ([91])) calls the "bean planters society" came into being in the lower central Andes, along with cotton
clothes and underwear at about 2,000 B.C. The bones of sea-lions are mixed with those of these early agriculturalists.
Excavations in Venezuela, like adjacent areas, show evidence of manioc and sweet potato cultivation from between
3,000 and 2,700 B.C. Both of these are root crops, but manioc required special preparation to be made palatable. (Ref.
95 ([140]), 62 ([91]), 209 ([282]))
Forward to America: 1500 to 1000 B.C. (Section 2.6)
2.6 America: 1500 to 1000 B.C.18
2.6.1 AMERICA
Back to America: 3000 to 1500 B.C. (Section 2.5)
2.6.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
2.6.1.1.1 THE FAR NORTH AND CANADA
The Arctic Small Tool tradition continued across northern Canada to Greenland and the Pacific coast Indians continued
their salmon fishing, without attempting cultivation. By 1,000 B.C. they were building villages along the Snake,
Columbia and Fraser rivers south of the Snake, there were large oval dwellings with floors and a timber frame, usually
about twenty-five by thirty feet. (Ref. 209 ([282]))
2.6.1.1.2 THE UNITED STATES
The Indians of North America originally had lived by hunting game and gathering wild foods, but about 3,000 years
ago they began making clay vessels, an innovation that accompanied the appearance of agriculture in many areas. The
pottery found in various excavation sites in the United States has a distinctive gritty temper and is often decorated with
fabric or cord impressions. One village, called the Baumer site, in southern Illinois, covered more than ten acres and
was made up of houses about sixteen feet square. The use of local strains of corn, beans and squash after 1,500 B.C.
gave people the surplus of food and time needed to engage in some communal activities. The first signs of mound
building appeared in the middle west about 1,000 B.C. as some villages began to bury their dead under low earth
mounds. In the southwest the Cochise continued their gradual transition from hunter-gatherers to true farmers. (Ref.
215 ([290]), 210 ([283]))
2.6.1.2 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
Village life in Mexico continued to show more advanced societies. In the Oaxaca Valley there were villages with
agriculture dominant by 1,300 B.C. Each village contained ten to twenty houses which were single family units made
of wattle and daub, all opening into a common plaza. By 1,200 in San Jose Mogote in the same valley, the people began
to build large platforms with limed walls and floors. (Ref. 45 ([66]), 209 ([282])) Recent excavations at Dzibilchaltun
in northern Yucatan indicate that this site, which contained one of the largest of the Mayan cities of the late post-classic
period of A.D.600 or later, had been continuously occupied since 1,500 B.C., so that in all probability pre-Mayan or
Mayan people lived there with an ever increasing level of civilization for over 2,000 years.
18 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17780/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
75
The big story of this period, however, is that of the Olmecs who had developed a civilization in the humid, low-lying,
forest region of southern Veracruz and western Tabasco by 1,200 B.C. Most authorities agree (with a few dissenters)
that this remarkable society appeared suddenly, without known antecedents. They were the first Meso-Americans
to handle large masses of stone in monumental sculptures and they may have been responsible for extending the
growth of maize in that area, chiefly by example or leadership, as they were not the basic inhabitants of the region.
The latter were ethnically Huastec while the Olmecs were apparently an hereditary ruling class who promoted efficient
farming techniques, long distance trade net-works, large temples and public buildings, fine art, an official state religion
and social stratification. The question of pre-Columbian contacts with America has been brought up time and again,
particularly regarding this advanced, suddenly appearing Olmec civilization, but the nature and method of such contact
and whether or not it occurred at all, continues to be debated.
Like the Egyptians, the Olmecs (and later Mayas) wrote in hieroglyphs, developed a calendar and predicted the movements of planets. These Central Americans built flat-topped pyramids similar to the ziggurats of Mesopotamia and
decorated those with bas-reliefs showing priests with Semitic facies and long beards. There is even some botanical
evidence of European contact in that the Olmec successors wore garments from a strain of cotton that seemed to be a
cross between a local, wild type and the long-staple Egyptian cotton. The latter has thirteen large chromosomes and the
native central and South American cotton, which was short stapled, had thirteen small chromosomes per cell, but the
cotton used for cloth later in Central America was a hybrid of the two above and contained twenty-six chromosomes,
thirteen small and thirteen large. One has to wonder if it is just coincidence that these Olmecs developed writing,
calendar systems, pyramids etc. directly at the terminus of the strong Atlantic Canary Current, flowing from the bulge
of Africa through the Canary Islands to the Gulf of Mexico at the base of the Yucatan peninsula. The swampy, unfavorable jungle coast in which this civilization developed would suggest that it must have arrived almost in full bloom,
from the sea. The Egyptians and Phoenicians knew more about astronomy, the key to ocean navigation, than the later
European contemporaries of Columbus and Pizarro, and it is definitely known that the Phoenicians had settlements all
the way down the Atlantic coast of Morocco by 1,000 B.C. (Ref. 176 ([242]), 209 ([282]), 95 ([140]))
There is also the possibility of still other peoples being the source of early foreign diffusion to the New World.
Heyerdahl (Ref. 95 ([140])) lists fifty-two examples of common characteristics seen in the early civilizations of Asia
Minor (Hittite), Cyprus and Crete and the early societies of Central America and Peru. These include priest-king
dynasties in sun-worshipping administrations, brother-sister royal marriages, fully developed script writing19 , paper
manufacture from vegetable fibers, stone masonry of amazing accuracy without the use of mortar and with methods
of long range transportation of gigantic stone blocks, colossal stone statues, repetitive representations of a bearded
man (all true Amerindians of Siberian origin should be beardless) fighting a giant snake standing on its tail, a bird-man
standing on a plumed serpent (See Hittites, this chapter), construction of ziggurat types of pyramids, mummification of
deceased royalty, trepanning of skulls, circumcision as a religious ritual, cities of adobe houses separated by streets and
with water and sewer systems, large scale terrace agriculture with irrigation and fertilizers, similar cotton looms and
garments, identical leather and rope sandals (although the latter were useless in the tropical swamps), feather crowns
used by nobles, similar organization of standing armies and weaponry, similar tools and utensils, use of red dyes from
mollusks, identical stages of metallurgy with outstanding gold work, ceramic, polychrome funeral ware, clay models
of daily life, as well as a universal female goddess, stamped seals, curved wooden figurines, understanding of the
"zero" concept, belief in their own origin in the first century of the 3rd millennium B.C., remarkably high standard of
calendar system and finally the same ocean-going reed ships with canvas sail hoisted on a double-legged mast. We
should also note that the date of the blooming of the Olmec civilization at 1,200 (+200) B.C. is the same time often
given for the Thera upheaval in the Mediterranean, with the subsequent possible displacement of the Sea People who
roved the Mediterranean and possibly the Atlantic! Self portraits of the Olmecs on colossal monoliths have shown two
contrasting types - one with Negroid physiognomy and the other with typical Semitic features with long flowing beard
- all this in the swampland exactly at the end of the Canary Current. (Ref. 95 ([140]))
It is difficult to be certain of the exact physical type of the original Central and South American Indians, since the
populations that came back to life after the territories became independent of Spain, are now so cross-bred with
Europeans, Chinese and Africans that identification is impossible. The Chinese factor brings up still another diffusion
19 Not
in South America.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
76
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
theory that has been advanced as late as 1975 by Betty Meggers (Ref. 141 ([194])) of the Smithsonian Institute,
who believes that the invaders were Chinese from the Shang Dynasty! As others have, she points out that in MesoAmerica20 as late as 2,000 B.C. there was only one village per kilometer in the estuary systems along the ChiapasGuatemala coast, but about 1,200 B.C. something unusual occurred - the sudden appearance of the Olmec civilization
in full flower - and she relates that this event was felt almost simultaneously over almost all of Mesoamerica. This
corresponds in time to the end of the Shang Dynasty, in China. Meggers feels that one of the most striking aspects
of this new society was the extent of traffic in raw materials such as obsidian, basalt, magnetite, ilmenite, himatite,
serpentine and jadeite, along with the transportation of the heavy, basalt boulders over long distances. She points out
a great number of shared cultural features of the Shang and the Olmec societies including:
1. writing, stating that a few, often repeated Olmec symbols resemble Shang characters, and later Maya glyphs
were read top to bottom in Shang fashion (characters of Minoan Linear A of Crete were read similarly)
2. jade, a primary commodity of long distance trade in both societies
3. batons as a symbol of rank, some with bifurcated tops
4. feline deity, the Shang tiger and the Olmec jaguar both associated with the earth god and both often drawn
lacking a lower jaw
5. worship of mountains
6. cranial deformation, apparently artificially produced in the center of the head of rulers
7. large groups of scattered villages with central service Centers
8. the construction of rectangular platforms with a north-south orientation.
When asked why the Mesoamericans did not use the wheel, which was certainly used by the Shang, she replied, as
others have, that the Americans had no use for the wheel in the absence of roads and draft animals, the ruggedness of
the terrain and the ability of a man to carry more than his weight in fragile cargo.
As might be expected, refutations of Meggers’ theory soon appeared. David Grove (Ref. 80 ([122])) of the University
of Illinois says that the society which we have mentioned as being in the Oaxaca Valley between 1,500 and 1,400 B.C.
was a complex culture and perhaps preceded those of the Gulf coast, and would more apt to be the Olmec ancestor
than the Shang. Furthermore, he says that the jade carving may not even have been Olmec and that the feline deity
idea came up from South America. He also makes the point that excavations by Coe at San Lorenze on the Gulf
coast since 1970 have revealed significant Olmec cultural levels which predate those at La Venta, but also pre-Olmec
levels, suggesting that the Olmec culture appeared gradually rather than suddenly. Meggers immediately replied to
this in a publication in 1976 (Ref. 142 ([195])) stating that twenty-three of the references she had consulted for her
previous publication had been written between 1970 and 1974 and that she was still convinced that Shang refugees
were involved in Central America. The concept of the sudden appearance of the Olmec society seems to be given
another boost by the 1977 publication, The Encyclopedia of Archeology (Ref. 45 ([66])) which discusses recent
investigations at San Lorenzo by Yale University, describing that center as having the longest stratigraphic history of
any known Olmec center and that it was constructed on an artificially raised mass of land, built by the Olmecs to
support a number of earthern pyramid constructions, plazas and mounds, all laid out along a north-south axis. The
writer indicated that the Olmec Culture was emerging at this site just in 1,250 B.C. and that most of the pure Olmec
monuments and structures actually date from 1,150 B.C. onwards.
Whether or not the Olmec civilization was imported or local in origin, there is no doubt but what this was the mother
of all later true civilizations in Central America, including the Mayan. Probable extensions of the Olmec into more
central Mexico are indicated by recent excavations at Chalcatzingo in the state of Morelos, about 85 miles southeast
of Mexico City. Radio-carbon datings are from 1,170 B.C. on, and the findings include bas-relief carvings, platform
complexes, etc., all typical of the Olmec style. It has been postulated that it was a center for controlling the trade
of highland raw materials (obsidian, jade, iron ore and possibly cotton) and channeling these on to the Gulf coast
centers. Contacts with nearby Oaxaca seem to have stimulated cultural growth there, as well (or was it vice-versa,
as suggested by Grove?). At any rate, within a few centuries, Oaxaca, with its vastly greater resources and richer
agricultural possibilities, with irrigation, actually began to be the dominant partner. (Ref. 81 ([120]), 45 ([66]))
20 Strictly
Yucatan.
speaking the term "Mesoamerica" includes Guatemala, Belize, Western Honduras, El Salvador and only southern Mexico, including
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
77
Still another, separate culture is suggested by fairly recent excavations at La Victoria, Guatemala, where Micheal Coe
(Ref. 36 ([57])) has uncovered iridescent ceramic pottery as a unique technological feature dating from 1,500 to 800
B.C. This same unusual pottery has been found also in Peru, and it seems possible that the technology may have gone
from Guatemala to Peru where the earliest dating by radio-carbon is 714 B.C. (+ 200 years). If this diffusion did occur,
it was probably by boat for that is only a 1,300 mile sea trip and has been shown possible by Heyerdahl’s raft voyage
and the presence of ancient sherds on Galapagos Islands, which lie 650 miles off the Ecuador coast. Other pottery
of Middle America was highly developed but had no local ancestry and Coe suggests that it possibly migrated down
from the Woodland Culture of North America.
2.6.1.3 SOUTH AMERICA
Several of the immediately preceding paragraphs, particularly those concerning the possible cultural derivations from
pre-Columbian European migration were applicable to parts of South America as well. We should now make some
observations peculiar to the latter, however. For one thing, the South Americans did not have writing and why this did
not arrive with other Mid-American cultural features, if there was indeed early contact, remains an enigma. As far as
the illiteracy is concerned, however, we shall discover later in this text that illiteracy did not hamper the Scandinavian
Vikings or the Mongol Khans. The most spectacular excavation, abandoned between 1,500 and 1,400 B.C. according
to carbon-dating, is El Paraiso, near Lima, just three miles east of the ocean on the Chillon River valley. This consists of
seven architectural units, of which one has been pretty well restored. The units were enormous buildings made of two
rows of heavy quarried and roughly-shaped stone blocks cemented with unfired clay and the gaps filled with rubble.
The buildings were of various sizes and shapes, some a thousand feet long; some almost square 165 by 132 feet. There
were wide stair cases and various halls and rooms, some of which must have been for storage while others were for
festivities and still others living quarters. A single building would reach thirty feet high. A similar building complex
has also been found higher up in the valley, thirty-six miles from Lima. Trepanation and deliberate deformation of
skulls (see also Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean (p. 75)) was practiced frequently in this period. In the
last chapter we discussed the "bean planters" of Peru. Archeology indicates that El Paraiso and all the bean planters’
villages were abandoned at about the same time, apparently around 1,500 to 1,400 B.C.. No explanation has been
found for this rather sudden and complete disappearance of this society, and furthermore it appears that the Peruvian
coast probably remained deserted for one to three centuries thereafter. Skeletons supplied to physical anthropologists
by Frederic Engel from the vicinity of the last of these pre-ceramic, bean eaters show the presence of a different ethnic
group with cross-breeding, as evidenced by the presence of brachycephalic and mesocephalic skulls in addition to
the older dolichocephalic. One can image that foreign ethnic groups may have brought a plague that killed the bean
planters, but one cannot rule out severe climatic change as the cause.
Corn growing had appeared in the central Andes, both in the cordillera and on the coast by 1,500 B.C. Although
previously used on the Caribbean coast, pottery does not seem to have been introduced in western Peru until about
1,300 B.C. Engle (Ref. 62 ([91])) had found some in the central Peruvian lower Andes carbon-dated in the 3,300
to 3,500 B.C. range, so perhaps both corn and pottery were brought over from the eastern slopes of the mountains.
Near Lake Titicaca and in the Cordillera de la Viuda, northeast of Lima, early types of pottery have been found dating
between 1,500 and 1,300 B.C. and this pottery has subsequently been found everywhere in caves and rock shelters in
the upper Andes. The corn raisers and pottery makers were apparently a new, migrating people, and did not represent
merely a change in culture of the bean planters. Basically by 1,320 B.C. Americans ate corn as the Europeans ate
wheat and the Asians rice. Seafood, especially shellfish, however, always played an important part of the Andes
peoples’ diets, supplying protein that they lacked in the absence of meat. A deep refuse midden on the coast of Peru
has revealed a cultivated gourd, used for various artifacts in a fishing culture. These were only later found in Polynesia.
By 1,000 B.C. Peruvians had hallucinogens and alcohol and were smoking cigars, although the leaf was not tobacco.
(Ref. 62 ([91]), 95 ([140]))
Forward to America: 1000 to 700 B.C. (Section 2.7)
Choose Different Region
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
78
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era21
Africa (Section 1.6)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.6)
Europe (Section 4.6)
The Far East (Section 6.6)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.6)
The Near East (Section 7.6)
Pacific (Section 8.6)
2.7 America: 1000 to 700 B.C.22
2.7.1 AMERICA
Back to America: 1500 to 1000 B.C. (Section 2.6)
2.7.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
2.7.1.1.1 THE FAR NORTH AND CANADA
The Arctic Small Tool tradition continued in the far north. Centered at the Fraser River delta about 1,000 B.C. and
extending from southern Alaska down to northern California, was the Northwest Coast Tradition. Eskimo and Old
Cordilleran traditions may have contributed to this society which included hunting and gathering of multiple river
and marine foods - mollusks, salmon, halibut, whale, seal and sea otter. Out of wood the people made canoes, plank
houses, carved household items and wooden slat armor that may have been derived directly from Asia. (Ref. 45 ([66]))
2.7.1.1.2 THE UNITED STATES
In the United States area, the Burial Mound I period of the Woodland tradition was typified by the Adena Culture
of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Similar areas could be found, however, from Canada
through Minnesota and down to the Louisiana-Texas border. The characteristic traits were woodland pottery, burial
mounds, some as high as 66 feet, and the beginnings of agriculture. Indians lived in small, scattered villages with
round houses, using wattle for walls and thatch for roofs. (Ref. 45 ([66]), 215 ([290])) In southeast United States an
Archaic type of culture extended throughout the period under review. Studies of remains have been made in the St.
John River of Florida and the Savannah River culture of the river valley by the same name. The major weapon was
a short heavy spear propelled by a throwing stick while bone fish-hooks, stone net weights and stone axes have been
found. Fiber tempered pottery had been in use in this area for a long time. (Ref. 258 ([264]))
And now we must mention the recent and very controversial work of one Barry Fell. Professor Fell is a teacher
of marine biology at Harvard University, but he also claims an extensive education in ancient Celtic languages at
Edinburgh University and thus professes to be one of the few who can read ancient scripts in Celtic and other ancient
tongues, including Egyptian, Phoenician and Libyan. It is his assertion that in various parts of the United States he
has found stone inscriptions in those ancient tongues, seeming to prove that those people visited or even colonized
parts of America in this early period. Of special note, in the time bracket of this chapter, is his claim of Phoenician
inscriptions, written in the Celtic alphabet, at a site called Mystery Hill, New Hampshire, dated to 800 to 600 B.C.
He feels that Goedelic Celts from Spain and Portugal explored and settled multiple areas in New England during the
first millennium B.C. and that the Punic phase just mentioned undoubtedly followed an original Celtic occupation. In
addition, he has allegedly translated the so-called Pontotoc stele of Oklahoma as an extract from the "Hymn to Aton",
a chant of the pharaoh Akhnaton, dating from the 13th century B.C., although Fell says the Oklahoma version can
scarcely be older than about 800 B.C., believing it was the work of an early Iberian colonist writing in the script from
21 "1500
22 This
to 1000 B.C." <http://cnx.org/content/m17704/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17779/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
79
the Cachao-da-Rapa region of northern Portugal. Similarly he writes that the Davenport stele of Iowa has three separate
scripts,- Egyptian hieroglyphics alongside Iberian and Libyan scripts. Previously these stelae had been considered as
fakes. Fell’s interesting hypotheses have not yet been generally accepted and seem to have been more or less ignored
by the professional archeologists. (Ref. 122 ([170]))
In the Cochise area of southwest United States a new and more vigorous strain of corn was imported from Mexico
about 1,000 B.C. A new plant, the red kidney bean, also appeared as the Cochise began to build simple pit-houses and
group themselves together in small villages. As agricultural activities made easier living, they had time to develop
early pottery forms and soon figurines of people and animals. Findings in the refuse of the Ventana Cave, some 100
miles from Tucson, have revealed these gradual changes from hunter to farmer. (Ref. 210 ([283]))
2.7.1.2 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN
In previous chapters we have mentioned the early cultures in both Oaxaca and Tehuacan which are adjacent areas in
southern Mexico. At Tehuacan the Ajalpan cultural phase ran from 1,500 to 850 B.C. and excavations have revealed
that about 40% of their diet came from agricultural products, 31% from wild plants and 29% from meat. Various
settlements were scattered along the waterways, with caves for summer occupation to escape the heat. Population
increased rapidly, as agriculture was improved. The next phase, beginning in 850 B.C., was the Santa Maria, which
saw the rise of templed villages, a figurine cult, and some irrigation. (Ref. 259 ([174])) The Zapotecs of Monte Alban
(Oaxaca) developed true civilizations with populations in the tens of thousands, a hierarchy of social classes, a civil
service, priesthoods and specialists in commerce, administration and government.
The Olmecs at the base of the Yucatan peninsula had similar progress and a distinctive culture dominated by a powerful
religion with sky or rain deities in the form of jaguar people with drooping or snarling feline mouths and deformed
heads. They originated the bar and dot calendar which traditionally has been credited to the later Mayas and they had
fine jade carvings. As their population increased they continued to live in villages scattered throughout the forest, but
at intervals they built impressive centers for ceremonial, civic and perhaps commercial use. Each center was the focal
point for the life and culture of some 10,000 people.
Four types of exotic maize found in Guatemala were entirely confined to the western coast area and all are of South
American origin, giving further suggestion of maritime contact between Ecuador-Peru and Guatemala. Coe (Ref. 36
([57])) has shown that boats, even without the special Peruvian guaras (a system of center-boards acting as adjustable
keels) could sail along the South American - Middle American coasts, going one direction at certain times of the year
and reversing direction at other seasons, similar to the monsoon wind system of the Indian Ocean. (Ref. 45 ([66]), 155
([214]), 19 ([32]), 36 ([57])) Additional Notes (p. 80)
2.7.1.3 SOUTH AMERICA
About 800 B.C. one of the Peruvian states, the Chavin, underwent an expansion much like the Olmecs did in Central
America. This civilization, with social classes, bureaucracies, and priests, soon spread throughout the northern half of
Peru. Heyerdahl (Ref. 95 ([140])) writes that this civilization appears to be a direct extension down the coast from the
Olmec be- cause there were multiple closely related jungle civilizations in a narrow coastal line, apparently in contact
one with the other by sea, while outside this narrow civilized strip there was nothing but barbarian jungle tribes of
Amerindians throughout Venezuela, Guiana and all of Brazil. And yet there were many differences between the
Chavin and the Olmec’ Mesoamerica had writing, South America did not; Peru had metallurgy by 300 B.C., Mexico
not until about A.D. 1000. Engel (Ref. 62 ([91])) does not relate the South American culture to the Olmecs, but does
agree that it apparently developed rapidly, perhaps in a single generation and occupied most of the area of present
day Peru. Beneath the Chavin layer (archaeological speaking), occasionally complete "pre-ceramic" villages can be
found. The Chavin traits included low-relief ornaments made on hammered gold leaf, cigars (but not from tobacco),
carved and polished stone vessels and tools including notched axes and cylindrical maces - some of the stone pieces so
perfect that they seem to be replicas of objects previously made in metal. The Chavins also used anthracite mirrors and
constructed very large architectural units, some several hundred yards long. The decorative themes almost all derived
from five basic subjects, as follows:
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
80
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
1. African style mouth with thick lips. (See Heyerdahl’s ideas under Central America (p. 74))
2. Snake-like bodies protruding from demoniacal or human figures.Some are reminiscent of a crocodile snout,
considered sacred in Africa
3. Fangs, shaped like curved swords
4. Crenellations, staircases or geometric forms recalling models of buildings or fortresses
5. Vessels representing human or demonic heads, animals and plants
The center of the Chavin society was the village of Chavin de Huantar, probably a temple at 10,000 feet altitude
consisting of a massive building 500 feet long in an inter- Andean valley on the west bank of the Mosna River. Engel
thinks that Chavin art may well be the product of foreign immigration, but from where? Some have said South Asia,
some China and Meggers (Ref. 141 ([194])) says the Jomon Culture of Japan. Engel is impressed with the resemblance
to Oaxaca and Vera Cruz. Las Haldas became another great Chavin complex, measuring 1,220 feet long by 260 feet
wide and covering 7 1/2 acres, with a platform overhanging the sea at a height of 130 feet. Chavin influence reached
as far south as the Mantaro basin in central Peru, as indicated by pottery found there. (Ref. 255 ([9]))
Some would date the beginning of the Tiahuanaco Society to 800 B.C. (Ref. 255 ([9])) but since this date remains very
debatable and since the full development of this society was reached only later, we shall defer discussion of it until the
5th century B.C.
In the 2nd millennium and this part of the 1st millennium B.C. a drier climate reduced the Amazonian forests to
scattered refuges and during this period migration of various tribes may have been relatively easy. The resulting
spread may help to explain the multiplicity of languages spoken there since then. (Ref. 256 ([151]))
NOTE : Habitation began at Colha in Belize about 900 B.C. This was later to become a great tool production
center because of adjacent deposits of chert nodules, as described in the Additional Notes of the 1st century
C.E. (Ref. 304 ([138]))
Forward to America: 700 to 601 B.C. (Section 2.8)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era23
Africa (Section 1.7)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.7)
Europe (Section 4.7)
The Far East (Section 6.7)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.7)
The Near East (Section 7.7)
Pacific (Section 8.7)
2.8 America: 700 to 601 B.C.24
2.8.1 AMERICA
Back to America: 1000 to 700 B.C. (Section 2.7)
23 "1000
24 This
to 700 B.C." <http://cnx.org/content/m17703/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17778/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
81
2.8.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
2.8.1.1.1 THE FAR NORTH AND CANADA
The Arctic Small tradition continued in the far north as previously described.
Indian life throughout Canada was essentially as recorded in the last chapter.
2.8.1.1.2 THE UNITED STATES
Here again, as in the last chapter, we run into the controversial theories of Barry Fell (Ref. 65 ([96])). Various rock
inscriptions of New England, some originally found years ago25 and others just recently, as at Union, New Hampshire,
and on Monhegan Island off the coast of Maine, have now been interpreted by Fell as being Tartessian Punic, recording
arrivals of Phoenician ships from Spain. It is his hypothesis that these voyagers, dated from 700 to 600 B.C. were
probably not explorers but merchants, trading with already settled New England Celts’
In the midwest, the Burial Mound I period of the Adena variation of the Woodland tradition continued. Here again
Barry Fell introduces new controversy when he states that excavation of some of the mounds have revealed copper and
bronze tablets, pottery, figurines, etc. showing unmistakable similarities to ancient Phoenician constructions. He says
these are located in West Virginia, lowa and Ohio, along major rivers. Other students of the Adena Culture mention
only stone ornaments and engraved slabs in these mounds, although the later Hopewell mounds (see 3rd century B.C.)
certainly had various metals, but of local origin. In the southwest United States the San Pedro phase of the Cochise
Culture continued as a desert society, with increasing population and improvements in farming and other skills. (Ref.
65 ([96]), 215 ([290]), 45 ([66]))
2.8.1.1.3 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN
The Olmec civilization, now some 600 years old, reached the height of its development with a center at La Venta,
Mexico. Every village was linked in an elaborate network of trade up and down the valleys and between the highlands
and the coasts. Salt, maize, obsidian, oyster shells, stingray spines, sharks’ teeth, conch and turtle shells were all traded
widely. The Olmecs were not only great sculptors but also carvers of jade, from which they made statuettes, jewellery
and axes. To judge from their art, the Olmecs had two contrasting ethnic types, one remarkably Negroid, with thick
lips, broad noses and round faces and the other strikingly Semitic with sharp profiles, hooked noses, narrow faces and
lips and pronounced beards, usually shown as either square or pointed goatees. Neither of these types would seem to
have come across the Bering Strait. (Please also see pages 124 to 127 and the chart which follows the next section
in this chapter). The Mayan calendar indicates activity in Central America by 613 B.C. but little actual knowledge of
those people is available for another century or two. (Ref. 95 ([140]))
2.8.1.2 SOUTH AMERICA
The Chavin civilization continued in northern Peru and perhaps the Tiahuanaco existed in the highlands on the Bolivian
border, but we shall omit discussion of this group until the 5th century B.C. As in Central America, there are many
equivocal findings suggesting the possibility of multiple origins of South American peoples, rather than a single
ancestral strain from Bering Strait migrants. Some of the features which contribute to this confusion are now listed.
NOTE: Insert SPECIAL SECTION, UNEXPLAINED FEATURES OF NATIVE AMERICANS
Forward to America: 600 to 501 B.C. (Section 2.9)
25 One such inscription was described and recorded from Mount Hope Bay, Bristol, Rhode Island, in 1,780 by Ezra Stiles, later president of Yale
College
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
82
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
2.9 America: 600 to 501 B.C.26
2.9.1 AMERICA
Back to America: 700 to 601 B.C. (Section 2.8)
2.9.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
2.9.1.1.1 THE FAR NORTH AND CANADA
There was no real change in the human condition in North America at this time. The Arctic Small Tool tradition is
usually divided into two stages with what has been called the Dorset Stage emerging at about 600 B.C. This was an
harpoon based hunting culture extending all across the far north.
2.9.1.1.2 THE UNITED STATES
The Adena Woodlland Culture thrived in the east and the middle west of the United States and the influence of the
Adena burial customs, religion and art can be identified over a large area, including Chesapeake Bay and New York
state. In the 1880s Professor Cyrus Thomas surveyed over 2,000 mound sites and collected over 4,000 specimens of
this and the later Hopewell Culture. The San Pedro phase of the Cochise Culture continued in the southwest. (Ref.
189 ([259]), 215 ([290]))
2.9.1.2 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN
In the Olmec center at La Venta a clay pyramid 103 feet high was erected and surrounded by four colossal stone heads.
At Monte Alban, Mexico, one can still see rows of carvings with Olmec features. At Tikal, Quatemala, pottery has
been found dating to 600 B.C. similar to south American pottery of the same date, suggesting that trade existed between
the two areas. About 500 B.C., however, the Olmec people seem to have collapsed and disappeared, perhaps passing
on their knowledge to the Mayas who began to occupy some of the same territory. Archeological finds establish a
human presence in Vera Cruz as early as 5,600 B.C. and this may have been from ancient times a thorough-fare for
migration of Huastec and Olmecs along the coastal plain. (Ref. 176 ([242]), 155 ([214]), 236 ([314]))
The zero point of the Mayan calendar corresponds to our 3,113 B.C. and brings up the interesting questions as to the
ultimate origin of those peoples and how they were able to triumph over the jungle to establish a type of civilization.
The most likely hypothesis is that they were agriculturalists originally and that they moved in from adjacent riverestuarine lowlands. The bulk of archaeological data points to an original incursion of the lowlands during the first half
of this 1st millennium B.C., but the earliest ceramics from Tikal and UJaxactun date to about 600 B.C. There may
have been two stages in the development of the Maya society, with the first stage characterized by the dissemination
of riverine settlements from the tropical Lowlands of the Pacific and Gulf Coasts in the general area of the Isthmus of
Tehuantepec and the second stage occurring when Pre-classic groups abandoned the rivers and moved into the interior.
This later stage appears to be linked to the beginnings of Mayan civilization. The change to the interior habitat involved
many problems not the least of which was the obtaining of drinking water. The solution to this problem was apparently
found in the construction of artificial reservoirs in impermeable clays. Fed by artificially constructed drainage systems
they allowed for the storage of millions of gallons of water. For carbohydrates, the relatively small crops of maize
that could be raised with the slash and burn method, was supplemented by the ramon, a tree of the fig family which
produces dense carbohydrate seeds in tremendously large quantities. Storage places for these seeds have also been
found. Now shut off from river proteins, deer hunting was of importance, a fact confirmed from the examination of
hidden contents from Tikal. As the Pulestons (Ref. 261 ([237])) have pointed out, the necessity of organizing labor to
construct the large public reservoirs may well have been a catalyst for the development of social stratification and the
developing concept of a state; and the utilization of the ramon would have allowed stable settlements with the release
of much male labor for use in various other channels.
26 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17777/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
83
2.9.1.3 SOUTH AMERICA
The Chavin civilization continued in Peru throughout this century but then about 500 B.C. their cities were rather
suddenly abandoned27 . Some writers say that Paracas developed its own individual type of pottery in the south at this
time, but Engel (Ref. 62 ([91])) does not date Paracas I until another 300 years. Marvin Allison (Ref. 3 ([4])) has found
multiple mummies from various Peruvian and Chilean coastal burials, some dating to 600 B.C., with tuberculosis,
especially of the bones and joints and he believes this must have been a common disease of the western coast. The
first known densely populated centers on the north coast of South America date from 600 B.C. to 150 B.C. and have
been called the "Salinar phase" by archaeologists. (Ref. 255 ([9]))
In the light of Barry Fells ’s hypotheses concerning possible European and Middle East voyagers to the new world
in ancient times, it is of interest that a stone inscription in Phoenician script was allegedly discovered in Parahyba
Province, Brazil, in 1886 and a translation published in 1939 indicated that it had been written by Canaanites of Sidon
who had left the Red Sea area in 536 B.C. (the 19th year of the reign of Hiram) with ten ships, sailing along the coast
of Africa for two years, under the orders of Necho, pharoah of Egypt. The writers note that they became separated
from their flagship and were carried far away and landed on this unknown (Brazilian) coast. When first put forth this
finding and translation was declared a forgery, but more recently it has been accepted as genuine by many authorities.
(Ref. 176 ([242])) The south Atlantic ocean currents coming from the African Cape could easily result in this drift.
Ornate ceramics decorated with animal and bird figures were characteristic of the Brazilian Barrancoid tradition of
this and many adjacent centuries (Ref. 255 ([9]))
Forward to America: 500 to 401 B.C. (Section 2.10)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era28
Africa (Section 1.9)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.9)
Europe (Section 4.9)
The Far East (Section 6.9)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.9)
The Near East (Section 7.9)
Pacific (Section 8.9)
2.10 America: 500 to 401 B.C.29
2.10.1 AMERICA
Back to America: 600 to 501 B.C.
2.10.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
The far northern Eskimo Culture, the midwestern Woodland Adena Cultures and the southwestern Cochise traditions
continued as before. In southern Utah’s Barrier Canyon (now Horseshoe Canyon) on the Colorado River just before it
goes into Arizona, rock paintings and figurines dating back at least to 500 B.C. have been found. They may date much
earlier. Barry Fell (Ref. 65 ([96])) has further astounding hypotheses dating to this century.
For example, he has identified a stone temple at South Woodstock, Vermont, to be of Celtic construction, dated after
433 B.C. and like others, oriented with its long axis at compass bearing 123 degrees, which is the horizon azimuth
of the rising sun on the December 22 winter solstice, important in the Celtic religion. He says that many monoliths
27 The
National Geographic Society (Ref. 255 ([9])) reported in 1982 that this society lasted until 300 B.C.
to 501 B.C." <http://cnx.org/content/m17702/latest/>
29 This content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17776/1.2/>.
28 "600
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
84
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
characteristic of any Celtic landscape are found in New England. And still more - Fell states that the Zuni tongue in
Arizona is basically Libyan, taken from the limited, racy and colloquial vocabulary of Libyan navy men sailing in this
century from ships of Tarshish or Carthage. He insists that the basic Zuni language of today is similar to Coptic, with
borrowed elements from Spanish and English. One of the problems involved in accepting this is that most authorities
do not think the Zuni existed as a definite people at this early time, and that they developed from the Mogollon Culture
much later. (Ref. 195 ([268]), 65 ([96]))
2.10.1.2 MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA
The middle America "ball-game", a curious, violent cross between soccer, volley-ball and pelota seemed to have some
religious significance and appears to have been developed by the Olmecs, although it became popular all over middle
America by 400 B.C. 30 As noted in the previous chapter the Maya probably started their differentiation from other
primitive peoples in the scrub-covered lowlands of northern Yucatan and Guatemala’s Peten about 2,500 B.C.31 , slowly
struggling against the invading forest. Clearing land was difficult and was done chiefly by burning. Their staple food
was maize, of ten with several varieties grown in the same field. Although their land was relatively infertile, except
along the river flood plains, it was rich in building materials - limestone rock, sandstone and volcanic rock as well as
hard stones. Up until 300 B.C. is known as the formative period of Mayan history, and there is no doubt but what
much of their advanced culture was transferred from the preceding Olmec Society. (Ref. 176 ([242]), 263 ([127]))
Costa Rica, on the narrow isthmus leading to Panama and South America has a long prehistory, but available artifacts
date chiefly from 500 B.C. onwards. In a new chronology for Central America proposed by a seminar in 1980, the time
from 1,000 B.C. to A.D. 500 in the Costa Rican story would be Period IV. At about 500 B.C. the Guanacaste-Nicoya
and some of the Central Highlands-Watershed region were influenced by Mesoamerican culture, with production of
the same red-on-buff pottery and a tendency for all settlements to prefer level, fertile land suitable for agriculture.
(Ref. 265 ([270]))
2.10.1.3 SOUTH AMERICA
The complete disappearance of the Chavin society of Peru in this century was so sudden that a cataclysm is suggested.
It may have resulted from a climatic crisis in that it is known that the sea level oscillated as much as 23 feet in this
time period. Engel (Ref. 62 ([91])) states that in the north central part of Peru there were two new societies after about
500 B.C., the Mochica and the Gallinazo, both in an area no more than about 240 miles long. South of there from the
Huarmey Valley to the Lurin, south of Lima, with an area of almost 1,200 square miles there appears an archeological
gap of about 1,000 years.
Still farther south the Paracas Society appeared at the end of the Chavin time or after a short gap and the very far south
has not really been studied.
The exact time of origin of the Mochican society is disputed and even radio-carbon dates are somewhat confusing.
Engel feels that it existed from this 5th century B.C. until at least A.D. 100 and was contemporary with the Gallinazos
with whom the Mochicans fought. The chief phenonemon of Mochica is a classical pottery, handsome, of various
shapes, decorated and some of it pink-fired. On some pottery the paintings show circumcised prisoners shackled
together, but none of the Mochicas are shown nude. Since circumcision was essentially unknown in early South
America, from whence did the prisoners come?
Ceramic portrait paintings of many classes of men are found, including warriors, farmers, priests, etc.. The warriors
may have arrived later, representing a new, conquering group. Some of the Mochican sites contained metal objects
but the sites had been looted long before any professional archeologists arrived. (Please also see South America in the
2nd century B.C. (Section 2.13.1.3: SOUTH AMERICA) for Barry Fell’s thoughts).
30 See
this same section in the 10th century C.E. (Section 2.24)
excavations indicate a Maya presence at Cuello, Belize at 2,400 B.C. (Ref. 263 ([127]))
31 Recent
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
85
In nearby Viru Valley lived the Gallinazo, named after a vulture, with a great building society superimposed on an age
old strata of previous peoples. One ziggurat, 82 feet high, obviously had religious significance. Most sites have been
looted centuries ago, as they contained gold objects, and finally the valley seems to have been conquered anyway by
the Mochicans.
On a treeless, barren plain 12,500 feet above sea level in central Peru, there existed perhaps at this time, the Tiahuanaco
civilization32 , similar in every way to the Olmec except in the drastic differences in climate and geology. The similarities of this society at Lake Titicaca and the Olmecs with the Old World cultures are many, including a domesticated,
small dog, with no wild progenitor in America, the use of hybrid long staple cotton and many other botanical features.
Building materials were treated differently than in any other part of the Andes, with monolithic blocks weighing a
hundred tons cut with geometric precision. The blocks show mortised joints and recesses in which metal hinges could
have been placed to swing monumental doors. Multiple temples were built and at least one building 500 feet in length
was included.
Forward to America: 400 to 301 B.C. (Section 2.11)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era33
Africa (Section 1.10)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.10)
Europe (Section 4.10)
The Far East (Section 6.10)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.10)
The Near East (Section 7.10)
Pacific (Section 8.10)
2.11 America: 400 to 301 B.C.34
2.11.1 AMERICA
Back to America: 500 to 401 B.C. (Section 2.10)
2.11.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
The Dorset Arctic, the Adena variety of the Woodlands and the southwest Cochise traditions continued as described
in the preceding two chapters.
2.11.1.2 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN
In the Central American tropical forests of Guatemala and Honduras the Mayan Culture continued to develop with an
increasing complexity indicated by the construction of mound platforms for temples and palaces. Recent excavations
at Cuello, a ceremonial center of northern Belize which may have had its origins as far back as 2,400 B.C., have
revealed evidence of what was probably a barbaric religious ritual of about 400 B.C. Twenty skeletons were found,
some complete but others with detached skulls lying beside lopped-off limbs. These were lying in the center of a
massive, raised platform some 200 feet square and standing 12 feet high. (Ref. 263 ([127])) Another city on the
32 It has been very difficult for archeologists to accurately date the Tiahuanaco Society for many reasons. Most of the great areas have been
looted extensively over the centuries and at present all excavation is restricted by the Bolivian government. Engel (Ref. 62 ([91])) has obtained a
carbon-dating of the deepest strata of the city proper of about 2,000 years ago, but pottery fragments at that level already were decorated in high
classical Tiahuanaco style, suggesting that this was late in the history of the people. We are empirically starting the discussion of Tiahuanaco in this
century although it may have originated either earlier or later by several hundred years.
33 "500 to 401 B.C." <http://cnx.org/content/m17701/latest/>
34 This content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17775/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
86
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
Mayan trade route along the eastern coast of the Yucatan peninsula in modern Belize was Cerros. This community has
been remarkable well preserved although it was abandoned many centuries ago. For three hundred years, beginning
in about 350 B.C. it existed as a modest fishing and trading village. In the beginning the inhabitants lived on or close
to the current ground level or on low clay platforms. In later centuries marked changes occurred in the manner of
living and we shall refer to these in subsequent chapters. (Ref. 264 ([105])) The mound platforms of the early Central
American people initiated the building of pyramids which was a virtual obsession for the next 2,000 years. Mexico
alone may have some 100,000 as not uncovered. (Ref. 45 ([66]), 176 ([242]))
2.11.1.3 SOUTH AMERICA
The people of northern Peru were melting gold and copper by 300 B.C. Since the melting point of these metals is a
little more than 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit, one wonders how they reached such temperatures. The later chroniclers of
the Spanish say the Indians blew on the fire and installed their hearths on hilltops where they had the help of the wind.
Fine Columbian metallurgy (using the lost wax method) was to later far surpass in quality that of either Peru or Mexico.
(Ref. 62 ([91]))
The highlight of the Paracas Culture in southern Peru was embroidery. "As in the earlier Chavin Culture, the stylized
feline animal played an important part in the decoration of their pottery as well as their textiles.”35 Hybrid birds,
beasts, fish, snakes and men also moved up and down the fabrics in rows, as cotton and alpaca wool were fabricated
into mantles and other fabrics, with as many as 190 different shades of colors. Many of their ceramic vessels were
characteristic Chavin steep-mouthed jars. Mummies from major necropolises on the Paracas peninsula, carbon-14
dated to about 300 B.C., have been found near large quantities of hardwood guara, a type of centerboard used in the
navigation of sail-carrying rafts, attesting to extensive maritime activity. The physical attributes of mummy bodies
differed markedly from those of known South American Indians; the mummies being for one thing much taller and
having different skull shapes.
All studies of Tiahuanaco skulls have also shown a mixture of skull shapes, with the cranial indices varying from 71.97
to 93.79 and hair color and shape varying also. Interesting features of the tremendous Tiahuanaco statues are the deepset eyes and straight noses, quite different from the round Chavin eyes and the deer-shaped ones at Mochica. Most
statues call to mind the ones on Easter Island in the south Pacific. (Ref. 3 ([4]), 62 ([91])) At one point Tiahuanaco
reproduced an art theme typical of the old Chavin style with serpent-like animals protruding from the bodies of armed
figures with animal heads, sometimes feline and sometimes that of an eagle. A hot-land item, the feathered shield,
has also been found in the Jojo Province of the eastern shore of Lake Titicaca and the greatest number of Tiahuanaco
stones has also been found in this area. Some archeologists have described three phases of pottery decoration in that
society. (Ref. 95 ([140]), 62 ([91]), 10 ([18]))
Regarding the eastern side of the South American continent, we might mention that Barry Fell (Ref. 122 ([170]))
writes that he has translated rock inscriptions written in the ancient Ogam Celtic alphabet in caves near the upper
reaches of the Paraguay River, these dating probably between 500 and 500 B.C. The writing allegedly describes a visit
by mariners from Cadiz, Spain and the language supposedly was a variant of Phoenician called "Iberian". Others have
described a stone found on a Brazilian plantation with alleged Phoenician writing36 .
Forward to America: 300 to 201 B.C. (Section 2.12)
Choose Different Region
1. Intro to Era37
2. Africa (Section 1.11)
3. Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.11)
35 Quotation
from Taylor and Belcher, Ref. 10 ([18]), page 85.
interpretation has been backed by Ladislau Netto, Director of the National Museum in Rio as well as by Cyrus Gordon of Brandeis
University in Massachusetts, but is scoffed at by European scholars.
37 "400 to 301 B.C." <http://cnx.org/content/m17700/latest/>
36 This
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
87
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Europe (Section 4.11)
The Far East (Section 6.11)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.11)
The Near East (Section 7.11)
Pacific (Section 8.11)
2.12 America: 300 to 201 B.C.38
2.12.1 AMERICA
Back to America: 400 to 301 B.C. (Section 2.11)
2.12.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
In the far north the Dorset phase of the Arctic Small Tool tradition continued. This Dorset Society was to last overall,
some sixteen centuries. (Ref. 189 ([259]))
By this century, for reasons unknown, the Adena Culture had faded and almost disappeared, but a new North American
Indian culture made its appearance in Illinois and soon spread to Ohio. Named the "Hopewell" after an Illinois mound
group, this eventually spread widely over a huge portion of the eastern United States, stretching from the Mississippi
River to Florida. Although the people probably cultivated corn and other crops, hunting and gathering were still
of critical importance. They built elaborate earthworks, some for defensive purposes and some as burial mounds.
They worked in copper, mica, obsidian, soap-stone and wood as well as clay. Copper and mica cutouts in various
designs were seen in effigy pipes and occasional pottery. Rock carvings of satyr masks almost identical with some of
Carthaginian occupied Sardinia and Carthaginian coins of the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C. have allegedly been found
along the Arkansas River both above and below Wichita, Kansas, according to Barry Fell, and he feels positive that
the Carthaginians traded on the Atlantic side of America for lumber, gold and furs. (Ref. 45 ([66]), 66 ([97]))
In the southwest, in southern New Mexico and eastern Arizona, Coshise Indians continued their agricultural, hunting
and gathering society, but with still more improvement in the type of corn, squash and beans, so that a true farming
community had materialized.
2.12.1.2 MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA
As the Mayan Society began to flourish we must not fail to remember that the Olmecs left a heritage of religious beliefs,
artistic symbolism and other cultural traditions to all subsequent Mexican people. Recent excavations near Coba,
Mexico, on the Yucatan peninsula have been called the Late Pre-classic Maya period by Mexican archeologists, with
a dating going back to 300 B.C. and with a peak at A.D. 200. The Mayas excelled in astronomy and developed a very
complex system of chronology (perhaps originating with the Olmecs) which was remarkably exact in its calculation.
For example, they calculated that 405 full moons occurred in a period of 11,900 days, while today astronomers make
it 11,959,888 days, thus differing by 1 day every 292 years or less than five minutes a year! They recorded their
language in a complex hieroglyphic script composed partly of ideograms representing whole words or ideas and partly
of phonetic symbols for sounds, much as did ancient Egyptian and modern Japanese. Scholars are still working on
decoding this language, which is still spoken by some two million people. (Ref. 176 ([242]))
In Costa Rica this Middle to Late Period IV can be viewed as a time of contact with more developed Mesoamerican
cultures. Superb human and zoomorphic ceramic effigies were produced at this time. In the Central HighlandsAtlantic Watershed, household remains also resemble Mesoamerican patterns; small, rectangular houses are sometimes
accompanied by bell-shaped storage pits. The pottery was adorned with any number of tropical reptiles with the color
chiefly red on buff. (Ref. 265 ([270])) The archeological record of western Panama begins at about 300 B.C. and
38 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17774/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
88
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
includes ceramics found in the Rio Chiriqui rockshelters. They were similar to those described in Costa Rica. We
shall note in later chapters that this was an area where big chiefdoms developed. (Ref. 266 ([67]))
2.12.1.3 SOUTH AMERICA
There were apparently any number of small, localized although prosperous societies in various parts of the Ecuador,
Peru, Bolivia complex in this century. About this time a numerous tribe arrived in the Chilca Basin just south of present
day Lima, building clusters of dwelling houses made of conical, hand molded clay blocks, a temple and store-housefortress. Their temple resembled a Polynesian "marae", and large and impressive adobe pyramids were constructed.
There were perhaps 2,500 people to a village, living on corn, sea-food and potatoes of cultivated species, the first in
Peru. Seven Lapa Lapa39 systems with some 10,000 structures made of heavy stone have been mapped out. They had
some traits in common with the Nazcas who lived farther south and were their contemporaries - such things as pipes
with ten holes, triangular obsidian projectile points and certain types of dishes. (Ref. 255 ([9]), 62 ([91]))
The Paracas ceremonial center on the south coast of Peru faded at about 200 B.C. although there appears some confusion about dates in regard to the Paracas-Nazca time periods. Fell (Ref. 66 ([97])) reports carbon dating of the
Paracas in the middle south Peru area back about the 5th century B.C., while Engel (Ref. 62 ([91])) makes it much
later, although he agrees that what he calls "Paracas I" was gone before 200 B.C.40 This territory was originally part of
the Chavin society area and some Chavin decorations were continued. There now appeared a recently identified Vicus
Culture which existed at the bend of the Maranon River almost on the present Ecuador-Peru border. This appears to
have begun about 220 B.C. and lasted for approximately five hundred years. From the artistic standpoint these people
are identified by intricate sheet- gold figures. Nose and ear ornaments employing both gold and silver were developed
there and carried on even into much later Inca days. (Ref. 45 ([66]), 124 ([172]))
The high culture Tiahuanaco made small micriolithic projectile points of obsidian, quartz or flint, and bolas used for
catching camelids were typical of the area. Some Tiahuanacoid pottery of the era shows an eye on figures that became
Nazcoid or almond shaped, suggesting a hybridization of these two cultures. The jewels of Tiahuanaco were very fine
and when faces were carved the noses were aquiline rather than straight, as shown on the winged god of the famed
Gateway of the Sun, and as found on the gods of Easter Island. (Ref. 62 ([91]))
At Chiripa, on the shores of Lake Titicaca there are interesting excavated architectural styles dating to about 300 B.C.,
where the walls were built with unfired clay bricks painted red, green and white, resting on a pebble base. All walls
were double with the space between apparently used for storage bins and some as stables for guinea pigs . The roofs
must have been of straw. The attached graves showed malachite beads and hammered, thin sheets of gold. The pottery
had a stylized decoration using Greek-like step patterns and other geometric forms.
Forward to America: 200 to 101 B.C. (Section 2.13)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era41
Africa (Section 1.12)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.12)
Europe (Section 4.12)
The Far East (Section 6.12)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.12)
The Near East (Section 7.12)
Pacific (Section 8.12)
39 A
term Engel (Ref. 62 ([91])) uses for the Chilca Basin dwellers.
1982 the National Geographic Society (Ref. 255 ([9])) dated the Paracas Period as 550 to 200 B.C.
41 "300 to 201 B.C." <http://cnx.org/content/m17699/latest/>
40 In
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
89
2.13 America: 200 to 101 B.C.42
2.13.1 AMERICA
Back to America: 300 to 201 B.C. (Section 2.12)
2.13.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
2.13.1.1.1 THE FAR NORTH AND CANADA
There was no interruption of the Dorset Society previously described in the Arctic north. In southeastern Canada,
particularly in the region of Nova Scotia, the Micmac Indians eventually had script writing. Although usually credited
to work of later French priests, Fell (Ref. 65 ([96]), 66 ([97])) gives some evidence indicating an east Libyan origin
from near the Egyptian border where Herodotus said that an Adrymachid tribe had adopted Egyptian manners. He
dates the contact of Libyan sailors with the Micmacs to this century but only further investigation can really settle this
one way or another.
We have recorded previously that some authorities feel that Asian migrations to North America via a Pacific northern
route continued by boat down to about 2,000 B.C. If true, then over the vast expanse of some 20,000 to 30,000 years
a great variety of people could have made this trek. We know for certain that the Aleuts and the Eskimos are separate
from true Amerindians and that the Athabascans of central, north Canada were relatively late comers, different in
culture and language from most other Indians. Now we shall describe still another group of people, occupying the far
western shore and the off-shore islands of Canada, who appear to be different from all other early North American
inhabitants in many ways and who developed in an isolated situation along the Canadian waterways, shut off from
inland Canada by precipices and wild mountains. These are the Haida of the Queen Charlotte Islands and the Kwakiutl
of northwestern Vancouver Island, both ranking among the tallest people in the world. They appear to be related to
the Salish or Flathead Indians who later inhabited northern Montana, apparently coming down gradually from Bella
Coola and British Columbia. These people are dolichocephalic while most American Indians are brachycephalic;
their complexions are fair and their hair of ten soft and brown, rather than Mongolian coarse and black. The earliest
European visitors to the western Canadian islands - Cook, Dixon and Vancouver - all emphasized those features.
In addition those northwest coast people of ten had strong mustaches and beards, in contrast to the usually totally
beardless Amerindians. Thus they have many Caucasian features and are physically identical to true Polynesians.
Their homesites in the Canadian islands probably represent way-stations on the trip these people made from some place
in Asia in ancient times to the eventual destination of some of them, in Polynesia. If they are related to Malaysians it
is a very distant relationship and the two physically dissimilar peoples must have separated from an original stem in
very ancient days, before the Malayasians even migrated down into the peninsula now bearing their name. The theme
of the unity of the northwest American Indians and the Polynesians will be further developed in subsequent chapters.
2.13.1.1.2 THE UNITED STATES
The expanding Hopewell sphere extended from the Alleghenies to the western border of the Mississippi alley, north
to the Great Lakes, south to Florida and the Gulf States. Their craftsmen obtained obsidian for knives and arrowheads
from the Yellowstone area of Wyoming as well as other rocks from Montana and North Dakota. We have not emphasized it previously but the Woodland Culture with its burial mounds, pipes, stone and copper gorgets, wooden carvings,
pottery effigies and earrings existed in the south as early as 1,000 B.C. onto this 2nd century B.C. and beyond. Burial
mounds up to forty feet in height are scattered throughout the south. (Ref. 267 ([321]))
We do not like to belabor a controversial point but is perhaps worth mentioning that Fell (Ref. 66 ([97])) insists that
Celt-Iberians were scattered throughout the eastern United States by this period and that coins found in quantity in
Ohio were local copies of ancient bronze coins of Evia, an old Portuguese city. This entire question of European
and/or North African visitors in America at a much earlier time than heretofore ever mentioned in classical histories
42 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17773/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
90
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
is an interesting one. Although Fell and Thor Heyerdahl43 , both of whom have written extensively on this subject
independently, have not obtained any significant agreement from others in the field, this does not necessarily mean
that they are in error. We must remember that in the latter part of the 19th century the initial reports on the extensive
and now famous prehistoric cave paintings and engravings from parts of Spain and Les Eyzies region of France were
met with complete skepticism by the International Congress of Prehistoric Archeology and Anthropology. (Ref. 215
([290]), 66 ([97]), 130 ([180]))
In the southwestern United States where the corners of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado join, the so-called
Basket-maker I period of the Anasazi Indian Culture was in progress but few details are available from this century.
Farther south the San Pedro Culture, apparently a modification of the Cochise, continued to be viable. (Ref. 45 ([66]))
2.13.1.2 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN
In Mexico the Teotihuacan city-state continued to grow. The late Pre-Classic period of Central America continued
with progressive population growth. The Maya in the Peten area subsisted on corn, beans and squash, as they cleared
land by a slash and burn system. There were no large ceremonial centers as yet.
2.13.1.3 SOUTH AMERICA
The Vicus Culture flourished in northern Peru. At Lake Titicaca, on the border of present day Peru and Bolivia, on
a bleak 13,000 feet plateau in the middle of the previously described Tiahuanaco Culture area there now was built
abut 200 B.C. the definitive city of Tiahuanaco. Its remaining stones give evidence of a colossal style of building,
with formidable mathematically ordered walls and imposing massive stone steps. A giant stone idol, 24 feet high,
was excavated in 1932 by an American archeological team under W.C. Bennett. Another idol, only 8 feet tall but
of a completely different style, although also of red sandstone, was found beside it. Shrunken human heads have
been found, suggesting the bloody cult of head-hunting and/or human sacrifices. A Bolivian scholar, Ponce Sangines,
believes this culture lasted from 200 B.C. to A.D. 1,200 with perhaps five buried cities, one often overlapping another
in the archeological strata. Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world and its largest island, the Island
of the Sun, has hills with ancient crop-growing terraces and beneath its waters are high walls and paved paths. The
lake, covering 3,200 square miles now is thought to have once reached the walls of the ancient city of Tiahuanaco,
the runs of which now lie 25 miles away in Bolivia. The city may have been basically a religious or meeting center,
as the large public buildings could hold thousands of people. There seems to have also been suburbs were craftsmen,
weavers, smiths and farmers lived in mud-brick houses. Potatoes and corn were grown as they are even today. The
stones which made up the large public buildings and walls appear to have been brought from quarries between 60
and 200 miles away and the method of transport brings up the same questions and possible answers that have been
issued about the great stones of Stonehenge, the European megaliths and the statues of Easter Island. Some American
prehistorians have suggested that the Tiahuanaco people simply fused together all the upper Andes societies that had
been fragmented since the end of the Chavin Culture.
Heyerdahl (Ref. 95 ([140])) quotes many of the very earliest Spanish chroniclers as they have recorded the natives’
legends of the great pre-Inca past. In these there is the recurring theme suggesting immigrants from across the ocean.
Lake Titicaca is given as a possible beginning point for Inga Viracocha or the composite Con-Tici-Viracocha, a bearded
deity who "brought his people fro the sea." Legends among the Chimu have this same deity arriving by sea long the
coast much farther north. One of the statues unearthed by W.C. Bennett in 1932 was that of Con-Tica-Viracocha in
Tiahuanaco, complete with beard and long girdled robe, decorated with an horned serpent and two pumas, symbols of
the Supreme God in both Mexico and Peru.
At about this same time of 200 B.C.44 and running to about A.D. 900 there appeared in the north of Peru the mysterious Mochica Culture complete with pottery and clay figurines and musical instruments and clothing resembling that
of classical times in the Mediterranean. The Moche have sometimes been called "the Greeks of South America." Fell
43 Heyerdahl’s
44 Engel
theories apply only to Central and South America, not the United States.
(Ref. 62 ([91])) dates this earlier, between 500 and 400 B.C. (Section 2.10.1.3: SOUTH AMERICA)
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
91
believes that they derived from a Libyan colony which was originally in the southwest Unites States because of similarity of some dragon-ship art work and other features found in ancient Nevada and California desert sites. He believes
extensions of Maui’s voyages (Please see The Pacific: 300 to 201 B.C. (Section 8.12)) included the southwestern
Unites States and that visitors from there to northern Peru account for the civilization of the Moche.
Meanwhile on the middle south coast the society which Engel (Ref. 62 ([91])) calls Paracas II developed as a coastal
society with limited architecture, some use of copper and gold and a very advanced state of weaving. All skulls were
deformed to a pear-shape and many were trepanned. Some elements suggest that they came up the coast from Chile
and their many identified weapons indicate terrific battles. The Nazcas were direct successors of the Paracas and they
too remained a coastal tribe, although with a far different social system. The transition was apparently somewhat
gradual and although the Nazca Society may have taken shape in this century, it did not blossom until long after. (Ref.
176 ([242]), 66 ([97]), 95 ([140]), 62 ([91]))
Forward to America: 100 to 0 B.C. (Section 2.14)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era45
Africa (Section 1.13)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.13)
Europe (Section 4.13)
The Far East (Section 6.13)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.13)
The Near East (Section 7.13)
Pacific (Section 8.13)
2.14 America: 100 B.C. to 046
2.14.1 AMERICA
Back to America: 200 to 101 B.C. (Section 2.13)
2.14.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
2.14.1.1.1 THE FAR NORTH AND CANADA
All across northern Canada as far north as Ellesmere Island and northern Greenland and down to the northern shores
of Hudson Bay and the east side of the Ungava Peninsula, the Dorset people continued to thrive. They carved figures
of animals from walrus’s tusks and bone, decorating them with peculiar outer marks which Schledermann (Ref. 189
([259])) has called an outline of animals’ skeletons. In the pictures he shows, however, it hard to identify true skeletal
structures and the marks are more reminiscent to this writer of the lunar notations of ancient Europeans described
previously by Marchack. (Ref. 139 ([192])) The northwest American Indians of the Canadian waterways continued in
active existence at this time.
2.14.1.1.2 THE UNITED STATES
According to Barry Fell’s original hypothesis North American trade from southern Europe ceased after the conquest
of Brittany (55 B.C.) and the Battle of Actium (31 B.C.) because the Romans had no navy and needed none and the
memory of America was lost47 . In his latest book of 1980, however, Fell (Ref. 66 ([97])) revises this markedly, having
allegedly recently been deluged with finding of European (Roman) coins and rock inscriptions in a great variety of
45 "200
to 101 B.C." <http://cnx.org/content/m17698/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17772/1.2/>.
47 From America B.C. by Barry Fell (Ref. 65 ([96])).
46 This
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
92
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
places in North America. Rock engravings which he believes to be copies of multiple coins minted locally in Spain
about 20 B.C. in imitation of Roman coins of the same era and bearing portraits of Caesar Augustus, have been found
at Castle Gardens, Wyoming. Fell is convinced that this Wyoming site was actually an early bank and center of trade
with customers using Celtiberian Gaedelic as their main language. He hypothesizes that people of Wyoming traded
with Celtiberians and their Indian wives, after the latter had migrated across the continent from New England to British
Columbia and then to northwest United States. West Arkansas and Oklahoma have also yielded coins which seem to
fit into this same category. Lacking further confirmation, the reader may make his own interpretation.
In the central and eastern United States there was continued Hopewell expansion with a distinctive ritual and artistic
tradition, probably indicating a loosely knit group of societies with common religious and artistic conventions. The
Gulf states, too, were heavily inhabited probably as far back as this era. In southern Colorado the Anasazi people
entered into what we have already labeled the Basket-maker period. Excavations at Durango show both cave and open
village sites, with evidence of maize growing as well as hunting activities. Baskets were made of plant fibers loosely
plaited, coiled or stitched and decorated in red and black. (Ref. 215 ([290]), 45 ([66]), 210 ([283]))
The Mogollon Culture in southern New Mexico and eastern Arizona apparently developed from the Cochise Culture
and was manifested by a sedentary life style utilizing a plain pottery and existing on maize along with the fruits of
some gathering and hunting. The name "Mogollon" is one lately applied48 , and first given to a range of mountains
running almost east-west across central Arizona and New Mexico, marking the southern edge of the northern high
plateau country. South of this Mogollon ridge the terrain drops several thousand feet into the southern basin with
meager rainfall and hot desert valleys with desert grasses, mesquite and cactus. In the middle of that basin there
are north-south running mountain ranges going from New Mexico well down into Old Mexico. About 100 B.C. the
Mogollon Indians have been identified as inhabiting this region. They continued to live in that large area for 1,500
years, constantly improving their crops and tools.
At about the same time another group of Indians, who may have been still another branch of the ancient Cochise,
settled in the hot arid valleys of the lower Gila and Salt rivers. They have become known as the Hohokam49 , surviving
through their descendants, the Pima and the Papago. The Hohokam lived in Arizona for 1,200 years, building at
Snaketown more than 5,000 houses at a rate of 400 a year. (Ref. 45 ([66]), 210 ([283]))
2.14.1.2 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
The Olmec civilization seems to have faded out at this time and no clear cut explanation has ever been given. But
in the Valley of Mexico the brilliant city-state of Teotihuacán began to blossom. Originally a settlement of moderate
size surrounded by a number of similar settlements this was soon a full fledged city and not just a ceremonial center
like many of those of the Olmecs. There were large scale irrigation works, cultivated tomatoes and peanuts as well as
maize and other grains and the domesticated turkey. There is evidence of a far flung trade with other areas of Central
America and perhaps the North American settlements. Farther south in Guatemala the Mayan people continued to
expand, beginning what has been called the Classical Age and the peoples of Costa Rica and Panama lived about as
described in previous chapters. (Ref. 215 ([290]), 64 ([94]))
Recent excavations at the ancient town of Cerros in modern Belize indicate that about 50 B.C. the Maya inhabitants
undertook a massive urban renewal. This involved the construction of a massive urban complex with large open plazas,
great pyramids and 103 public buildings and dwellings arranged in a careful plan with the entire center surrounded by
a canal 1,200 meters in length. Apparently all this was undertaken because of the excellent trading position of Cerros
on a Yucatan bay at the mouth of the New River. The largest pyramid had some 30,000 cubic meters of rubble fill,
twice the size of a famous North Acropolis at Tikal and represents a considerable engineering feat. (Ref. 164 ([223]))
48 The
49 In
name was taken from an 18th century Spanish official.
the modern Pima language this means "those that have gone before".
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
93
2.14.1.3 SOUTH AMERICA
Multiple cultures continued in the area of Greater Peru. On the northern coast there continued to be the Vicus Society.
Their pottery, featuring resistive (i.e. negative) painting, resembled the Gallinazo. In the middle south coast the
polychrome pottery and embroidery fabrics of the Nazca developed about this time but actual dating is difficult because
of the extensive looting of ancient dwelling sites that has taken place in the past. The Tiahuanaco Society continued
to thrive in the high Andes in the Lake Titacaco district. Contact between these highlanders and the Nazca and Huari
peoples of the lower lands undoubtedly occurred with exchange of pottery dyes and other materials. The two areas are
only 120 difficult miles apart. (Ref. 45 ([66]), 62 ([91]))
Forward to America: 0 to A.D. 100 (Section 2.15)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era50
Africa (Section 1.14)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.14)
Europe (Section 4.14)
The Far East (Section 6.14)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.14)
The Near East (Section 7.14)
Pacific (Section 8.14)
2.15 America: 0 to 100 A.D.51
2.15.1 AMERICA
Back to America: 100 B.C to 0 (Section 2.14)
2.15.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
2.15.1.1.1 THE FAR NORTH AND CANADA
In the very far north the Dorset Arctic tradition continued to thrive. (See particularly the 6th (Section 2.9) and 1st
centuries, B.C. (Section 2.14)). Some further remarks about the Indians on the western coast and islands of Canada
seem in order. Their houses were large and rectangular with walls and roofs made of hand split boards. The roofs
were gabled and there were no windows. The short front walls had small doors, usually highly decorated, sometimes
with carvings, sometimes with paint. There were plaited amts on the dirt floors and no furniture. Houses could be as
long as 70 feet. Social classes included a ruling aristocracy, commoners and slaves. Being basically a sea people they
built sea-going canoes, some 170 feet long, 61/2 feet wide and 41/2 feet deep, which could accommodate 100 people.
They navigated the open seas easily and as we shall note in a later chapter, some of their voyages undoubtedly went to
the Hawaiian Islands were the people became Polynesians. The currents and winds alone sometimes carry large logs
from northern Vancouver Island directly to Hawaii. The canoes were made of one-half of a large tree trunk and carried
only a mat which could be used as a poor sail. For sea voyages two canoes could be tied together and a platform put
over both. One man steered with a paddle in the stern and kneeling pairs of men paddled strongly. Three types of
fish-hooks were used, none of which have ever been seen in Indonesia or Southeast Asia. These northwest Indians did
not have pottery.
50 "100
51 This
B.C. to 0" <http://cnx.org/content/m17697/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17771/1.3/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
94
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
2.15.1.1.2 THE UNITED STATES
This was the beginning of the maximum expansion of the Hopewell Culture with secondary areas of influence in
the so-called Marksville group near the Missisippi delta and the Santa Rosa groups at the base of the Florida peninsula. Their rather elaborate decorations (usually for the dead) included copper from Lake Superior, mica from the
Appalachians, obsidian from the Rocky Mountains, alligator teeth and conch shells from Florida and the Gulf and
stone from Minnesota and Wisconsin. At the risk of over-emphasizing the rather bizarre hypotheses of Barry Fell,
we shall mention that he writes that the builders of the Hopewell mounds were mainly Libyans, assisted by Negroid
Nubian crew members who left sculptures of heads and African animals along the Mississippi River system in Ohio,
Iowa, Oklahoma and Arkansas. He even suggest that Jewish refugees from the first Romano-Jewish war ended up in
Kentucky and Tennessee.52
In his most recent book Fell (Ref. 66 ([97])) gives a translation from Plutarch which allegedly tells of how Greek North
Africans (Late Carthaginians) sailed westward from Britain passing three island groups equidistant from one another
(Orkneys, Shetlands and Faeros?), and then to Ogygia (Iceland?) five sailing days away and then on to the northern
coast of a continent, Epeiros, that rims the ocean. South Greenland would fit the alleged distance and direction. Then,
says Plutarch,53 if one sails south along the coast one will pass a frozen sea and come to a land where the Greeks settled
and married with the native barbarians. (The Davis Strait between Labrador and Greenland becomes an impassable
mass of floating ice during the summer season.) As for the place where the Greeks married, Plutarch says it was in the
same latitude as the Caspian Sea, thus Nova Scotia and New England. It is in connection with this that Fell quotes Dr.
Silas Rand54 who spent a lifetime in the last century among the Micmac and who wrote a Dictionary of the Micmac
Language, as indicating a prevalence of Greek roots in their language. An illustrative list of over 50 such Greek roots
are given by Fell along with the Micmac equivalents, implying a derivation from the Greek spoken in North Africa in
Ptolemaic times, words that were a part of the everyday language of Libya and Egypt. This concept has been reported
false by the Smithsonian institute.
Sometime during the Woodland Period maize had made its way from South America and/or Mexico to the southern
United States and had spread from there even into New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. Varieties of lint corn or
popcorn appeared in the South. (Ref. 267 ([321])).
In southern New Mexico and Chihuahua, Mexico the Mogollon people continued to live in their semi-subterranean pithouses and appeared to have self governing villages under the leadership of civil and religious elders democratically
selected. An important feature was a large ceremonial house known as the great kiva, three or four times the size of
the usual dwellings. In southern Arizona and the neighboring Mexican state of Sonora the Hohokam people began
extensive irrigation systems with dams on rivers and some canals 30 feet wide and 25 miles long. This society
developed for over 1,000 years, but the exact date of its origin has long been debated, estimates varying from 300
B.C. to A.D. 500. (Please see the 5th century C.E. (Section 2.19)). At any rate, they made exquisite jewelry and
pottery pyramids and used astronomy. This is another American culture which Barry Fell (Ref. 66 ([97])) believes to
be of Libyan origin carrying the tradition and navigational and astronomical knowledge of the Old World and which
had arrived via Pacific travelers as manifested by the original maps made by the famous Maui. (See The Pacific:
300 to 201 B.C. (Section 8.12)). The frontispiece on Fell’s latest book (Ref. 66 ([97])) is a map supposedly drawn
by Maui showing North America and the eastern Pacific, using the primary meridian as a line through Alexandria,
Egypt (as used by Eratosthenes) with an international date line at 180 degrees, passing about 10 degrees east of
Hawaii. It shows Hudson Bay and the isthmus of Panama and survives on rock drawings in Nevada. Fell says that
additions to the original Libyan lettering have been made later in Kufic Arabic, showing that the map was still in use,
probably for educational purposes as late as A.D. 750. It is his contention that petroglyphs and writings from Nevada
and California, carefully recorded and filed at the University of California and other places, could not be previously
interpreted because the nature of the writing (Arabic) was not recognized. The difficulty in all this is that current
52 Such concepts are really not new. Early American colonists, particularly one James Adair, persistently held that one of the lost tribes of Israel
had come to America and mixed with the southern Indians. Others thought that the Welsh Prince Madoc or even Phoenicians had early come to
America. (Ref. 267 ([321]))
53 The exact sources of the Plutarch material are not given by Fell. He says simply that Plutarch, writing in the 2nd century, allegedly got his
material from old records in Carthage.
54 Similarly, we have no source reference concerning Dr. Rand.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
95
authorities including southwest museum directors and southwest anthropology professors in recent publications make
no mention of these concepts whatsoever. (Ref. 66 ([97]), 210 ([283]), 269 ([193])).
2.15.1.1.3 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
People in the far north of Mexico participated in the Southwest American societies are related in the paragraphs
immediately above. Much farther south there was rapid growth in the Teotihuacan area and continued evidence
of human sacrifice, common to all MesoAmerican societies. Skeletons wrapped in nets, ritually burned children’s
remains and buried heads all testify to this. (Ref. 273 ([6])).
The Mayan civilization continued in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. The Mayas counted in 20s and had a much
more manipulative representation than the clumsy Roman numerals of the same time. The Maya zero, represented by
a shell-shaped sign ____, was a concept which did not reach Europe from India for almost another 1,000 years. The
numbers 1,2,3 and 4 were represented simply by the corresponding number of dots, while 5 was a single bar. Thus 5
was ______, 7 was ____-, etc., while 10 was two bars. Eighteen in this system was ______ and 20, of course, was
four bars, one under the other. For numbers higher than 20 a new row was started above the first, to mark the number
of 20s in total. Thus the number 234 would be expressed by only two Mayan symbols 0 on top sign for 11 (meaning
11 sets of 20 or 220) and underneath the sign for 14, thus: _________
In the last chapter we noted the May trading center of Cerros near the base of Yucatan. In this first century of the
Christian era this city went into a steep decline. It is probable that with increasingly strong and well-managed overland
trading routes the riversea networks decreased in importance. (Ref. 264 ([105])). Additional Notes (p. 95)
Pre-civilization societies continued to build up in Costa Rica and Panama. Dozens of settlements each almost half
a kilometer in length in Cerro Punta. Panama, suggest considerable population build-up in the valleys south of the
Continental Divide in this era. The ceramics of this stage are similar in both Panama and Costa Rica. (Ref. 266 ([67]),
265 ([270]))
2.15.1.2 SOUTH AMERICA
The early Intermediat Period of Peruvian history continued with a developed Vicus Culture dominating the north.
There is some evidence that the trephining of skulls, using knives of hard obsidian, was a common practice in Peru at
this time, for whatever reason. On the aird plain between southern Peru and the Andean foothills the Nazca Indians
lived, making featherd turbans and fine cotton cloaks embroidered in multi-colored wools. Many of these have been
recovered in Nazca cemeteries. Engel (Ref. 62 ([91])) says that at this period there was no evidence of maritime
activity among these people and fishermen were still depicted on ceramics swimming in the water catching fish in
nets. Recent examination of skeletons of this era show a number of ear-canal osteomas, probably secondary to this
work in the water. Gradually there was a rejuvenation of the so-called classical Nazca art, after an initial period of
decline. The Tiahuanaco society continued in the high Andes. (Ref. 176 ([242]), 62 ([91]), 3 ([4]))
NOTE : In the Middle America late Preclassic period (300 B.C. to A.D. 250), the city of Colha, Belize, was
a center for craft specialists who mass produced such stone tools as adzes, axes, daggers and hoes, as well
as special ceremonial items. These were apparently exported all over the Maya region. To date some 32
work-shops have been excavated. (Ref. 304 ([138])).
Forward to America: A.D. 101 to 200 (Section 2.16)
Choose Different Region
1. Intro to Era55
2. Africa (Section 1.15)
3. Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.15)
55 "0
to A.D. 100" <http://cnx.org/content/m17696/latest/>
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
96
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Europe (Section 4.15)
The Far East (Section 6.15)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.15)
The Near East (Section 7.15)
Pacific (Section 8.15)
2.16 America: A.D. 101 to 20056
2.16.1 AMERICA
Back to America: 0 to A.D. 100 (Section 2.15)
2.16.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
In the far north there was very little change from the previous centuries. (See particularly 6th (Section 2.9) and 1st
centuries B.C. (Section 2.14)). About the central and eastern United States there is some disagreement. Brian Fagan,
the Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the University of California at Santa Barbara, writes that there was
continued Hopewell expansion with increased cultural development even up until the 5th century C.E. (Ref. 215
([290])), but the Encyclopedia of Archeology (Ref. 45 ([66])) states that there was a rapid decline of the Hopewell at
about A.D. 200. We know that the southeastern United States was inhabited but we have available only very limited
information at this early period. Fell (Ref. 66 ([97])) describes finding of what he believes to be Hebrew shekels dating
from the Second Revolt of A.D. 132 in various parts of Kentucky and a nearby district of Arkansas.
The Mogollon, Hohokam and Anasazi cultures continued to develop in the southwestern United States. (Please see
adjacent modules). The Mogollon people learned to grind and polish small stone slabs to make useful articles such as
paint palettes, dishes and stone smoking pipes for tobacco. Their spear points were used with a rude throwing stick
called the atlatl, an ancient weapon of the Americas. (Ref. 210 ([283]))
2.16.1.2 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN
The Teotihuacan people of Mexico increased their city size to an eight square mile area, in the center of which rose
the truncated pyramid of the sun - 210 feet high and 750 feet square. It was as large at the base as the great pyramid of
Cheops in Egypt. At the height of its prosperity, which was sometime in these early Christian centuries, Teotihuacán
had a population of 120,000 with an added network of villages surrounding the main city. Over 5,000 buildings have
been examined in this area, including 400 work- shops for making obsidian tools and weapons and some 300 potteries.
Irrigation channels were dug for both city and farm water. This center was 30 miles northeast of present day Mexico
City.
At Izapa on the Mexico-Guatemala border, there was a distinctive art style resembling the earlier Olmec Culture and
it may represent a connecting link between that and the later classic Maya Culture which developed to the east. In
approximately this same timeframe, El Tajin, located in the Veracruz area a few miles inland from Santa Louisa,
emerged as a major Huastec administrative and religious center. The Huastecs were "cousins" of the Maya and El
Tajin, as their major city, soon counted a population in the thousands, with hundreds of buildings, temples, palaces,
ball-courts and countless individual dwellings.
On the classical dating scale the Mayan civilization was nearing its peak with many great scale cities in the forests,
particularly in Peten and the region of the ceremonial center of Tikal. For the most part they were a peace-loving
people who farmed, wove cotton and made paper from the fibers of the fig-tree57 . They developed a system of writing
which was partly phonetic and believed now to have been inherited in great part from the Olmecs. On the new dating
56 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17784/1.2/>.
contrast there was no paper in Europe at this time. China invented a paper but kept it secret for centuries. See The Far East: A.D. 101 to 200
(p. 527).
57 In
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
97
systems this peak period of the Mayas may have been about 250 years later. (Please see America: 300 to 201 B.C.
(Section 2.12)) (Ref. 146 ([199]), 176 ([242]), 215 ([290]), 45 ([66]), 236 ([314]))
It is interesting that the prominent British historian, Hugh Thomas (Ref. 213 ([288])), denies that the Maya had
significant writing, apparently basing his comments on a single given reference in a 1978 Scientific American article.
But his reference, in the "Science and the Citizen" department of the May, 1978 Scientific American (Ref. 193
([263])) gives me an entirely different concept. Although admitting that much Maya writing had been destroyed
by the invading Spanish conquistadors in the mid-16th century, the article lists several sources of remaining Mayan
hieroglyphics. There are manuscripts painted on deerskin which are apparently in museums scattered across the
world, as they are known as the Dresden, Madrid and Paris codexes; then there are 64 hieroglyphs that were written
down in 1566 for the Bishop of Merida by a surviving Maya scribe; and finally there is a long inscription found
inside three structures at Palenque (dated 7th to 9th centuries C.E.), consisting of some 600 glyphs, the translation of
which is still proceeding under anthropologists and epigraphers from Yale University. The part that has been translated
describes twelve successive rulers of the past and details of a current 13th ruler with birth, pedigree, accession, military
achievements, ritual acts, etc. of all. More inscriptions turn up every year, on pottery, monument stones, buildings,
etc. The written language involved at least 600 individual glyphs which could stand alone or be used in combinations
of two or more.
This was a major developmental period in Costa Rican history with a dramatic increase in sites and population along
with a trend toward social stratification. Many new artifacts appeared including elaborately sculpted metates of volcanic stone, ceremonial stone mace-heads, carved jade, figurines, ocarinas, whistles, stamps and rattles. Panama
developed similarly and there were undoubtedly long distance Mesoamerican trade networks. (Ref. 265 ([270]))
2.16.1.3 SOUTH AMERICA
Sometime in this or the next century Paracas in the middle of south Peru was abandoned, perhaps because of a severe
tidal wave or other natural disaster. Some Nazca villages, however, survived for several additional centuries and the
Tiahuanaco Culture of the high Andes remained untouched. The potato was used as decoration on Peruvian pottery as
early as the end of this century. (Ref. 213 ([288]))
Forward to America: A.D. 201 to 300 (Section 2.17)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era58
Africa (Section 1.16)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.16)
Europe (Section 4.16)
The Far East (Section 6.16)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.16)
The Near East (Section 7.16)
Pacific (Section 8.16)
2.17 America: A.D. 201 to 30059
2.17.1 AMERICA
Back to America: A.D. 101 to 200 (Section 2.16)
58 "A.D.
59 This
101 to 200" <http://cnx.org/content/m17708/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17785/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
98
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
2.17.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
2.17.1.1.1 THE FAR NORTH AND CANADA
For information concerning the Dorset Inuits of the far north, please see the 6th (Section 2.9) and 1st centuries B.C.
(Section 2.14) and the 9th century C.E. (Section 2.23) For the northwest coastal Indians see the previous two or three
centuries under this same category. Barry Fell (Ref. 66 ([97])) insists that throughout the last pre-Christian and these
early Christian centuries the New England Celts, which he has described, gradually migrated with their Indian wives
and children across Canada westward eventually reaching British Columbia. He reports that much of the vocabulary
and grammar of the Takhelne language of the Fraser Lakes area spoken yet today, is a Creole Celtic tongue related
to Gaelic and derived from Godelic. In America (Ref. 66 ([97])) he lists 54 words still used today by the Takhelne
people along with the Godelic and Gaelic words and their much different English equivalents60 . The table is quite
convincing, but why is this not even commented on elsewhere in the literature?
2.17.1.1.2 THE UNITED STATES
Sometime in these early Christian centuries the "Effigy Mound" Culture developed in the upper Mississippi Valley as a
regional variation of the Hopewell Culture. There the Indians built gigantic mounds in the form of animals - panthers,
lizards, deer, bears and birds. Most of the mounds had burials, often at critical parts of the figure such as at the heart,
hip or knee. Although probably of religious significance, no one really knows what these Minnesota and Wisconsin
mounds actually mean. (Ref. 215 ([290])) The southeast Indians will be discussed at much length in later chapters.
In the southwest the Mogollon, Hohokam and Anasazi peoples continued their development. A more detailed look at
their cultures will be given in later centuries, corresponding to the time of the heights of their development.
2.17.1.2 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN
We have mentioned previously (3rd century B.C. (Section 2.12)) that recent excavations near Coba on the Yucatan
peninsula have revealed much of the Late Pre-Classic Maya period. The peak of this civilization appears to have
been reached in this 3rd century C.E. and the finding have included the Nohosmul pyramid, rising 157 feet out of the
jungle, 5.4 square miles of temple buildings, streets and plazas, 187 miles of roads and streets, some 80 feet wide
with traffic circles and underpasses61 . This development apparently followed the Guatemala Maya Society, although
it is known that by A.D. 250 there was a true urban Mayan zone persisting at Kaminaljuyu at the site of present
day Guatemala City. This was the beginning of the greatest era of Maya civilization, with one of the earliest large,
ceremonial centers at Tikal, dating to A.D. 292, in what is called the early Classic period. There was a strong central
Mexican (Teotihuacán) presence, as that city was continuing development with obsidian mining as a major enterprise.
(Ref. 215 ([290]), 45 ([66]))
The Mayas, even for generations after their peak, spoke of two distinct culture heroes, Itzamna and Kukulcan, both
bearded, although arriving at different times and from opposite directions, leading the Mayas to Yucatan. Their
legends said that the largest and most ancient immigration was from the east through the ocean and led by Itzamna,
guide, instructor and civilizer. Kukulcan, a later arrival, was different - arriving with 20 men wearing flowing robes and
sandals, with long beards and bare heads, ordering the people to confess and fast62 . He allegedly founded Mayapan
and caused much building at Chichen Itza, and taught "peace". His humanitarian teachings coincide completely with
those of Quetzalcoatl, of the later Aztecs. " Kukul" is the Maya word for quetzal bird and "can" is a serpent .
A colored painting from an interior chamber of a pyramid at Chichen Itza, copied by Morris, Charlot and Morris in
1931 (and now destroyed by humidity and tourists) showed a seashore battle involving two racial types, one with
white skin and long, flowing yellow hair arriving in boats, and the other type dark-skinned and wearing feathered
60 Ref.
66 ([97]), page 198.
of the strange features of all early Central American societies is the fact that none of them used the wheel. Children’s toy carts with wheels
have been found, but no wheels were used otherwise. One explanation has been that the jungles and mountains made wheels useless, and yet why
were they not used in cities with miles and miles of roads as just described?
62 This legend from Las Casas’ Historia de las Indias of 1559, as related by Heyerdahl (Ref. 95 ([140])), pages 113 and 114.
61 One
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
99
headdresses and loin cloths. A reed vessel on the pyramid painting recalls the reed boats used at Luxus in Morocco
and the old Egyptian paintings of reed boats of the Nile. Where did these blond men come from? We do know from
written accounts of the discovery of the Canary Islands by Europeans a few generations before Columbus, that those
islands were inhabited by a mixed population called "guanches" - some small, swarthy and negroid, others tall, whiteskinned, blond and bearded, all just like the Maya pyramid at Yucatan. The Berbers of North Africa were similarly
mixed and remain so today. Blond and red-haired people are known to have been in the Caucasian plains east of Asia
Minor and nowhere on the continent is red hair more common than in Lebanon. (Ref. 95 ([140])) So, do we take our
pick? As further confirmation of the presence of bearded men in this Central American area, we have Stephens (Ref.
203 ([277])) account of his exploration of Copan, Honduras, in the 1830s. He describes finding multiple idols with the
males all identified by beards and some with mustaches. The beards were like those on Egyptian statues but the latter
did not have mustaches. One of the flat-topped altars described had ornaments suggesting the trunks of elephants! All
of the monuments at Copan had sculptures and hieroglyphics.
2.17.1.3 SOUTH AMERICA
In southern Peru the remaining Nazca Indians made fanciful birds and animals of gold metal sheets and decorated
their pottery with animals, demons and geometric forms in multiple colors. Their textile work was also intricate and
colorful . We assume that the Tiahuanaco people continued to live in the high country although no particular datings
from this century have been recorded. A crock of coins of all the Roman emperors of the first three centuries after
Christ have been found buried on the coast of Venezuela. No one knows the source of these coins. (Ref. 176 ([242]),66
([97])) As this is being written a newspaper item reports the finding of hundreds of pieces of Roman amphorae at the
bottom of a Brazilian bay. The underwater archeologist responsible anticipates finding a sunken Roman ship, soon,
and the amphorae will be dated with some accuracy by the pottery luminescence method in the near future, but he is
confident that the date will be the 2nd or 3rd century C.E.
Forward to America: A.D. 301 to 400 (Section 2.18)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era63
Africa (Section 1.17)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.17)
Europe (Section 4.17)
The Far East (Section 4.17)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.17)
The Near East (Section 7.17)
Pacific (Section 8.17)
2.18 America: A.D. 301 to 40064
2.18.1 AMERICA
Back to America: A.D. 201 to 300 (Section 2.17)
2.18.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
2.18.1.1.1 THE FAR NORTH AND CANADA
Please see previous chapters, particularly the 6th (Section 2.9), 4th (Section 2.11) and 1st centuries B.C. (Section 2.14)
and the 3rd century C.E. (Section 2.17), as well as The Pacific: A.D. 301 to 400 (Section 8.18).
63 "A.D.
64 This
201 to 300" <http://cnx.org/content/m17709/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17786/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
100
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
2.18.1.1.2 THE UNITED STATES
It is apparent that Indian people inhabited most of the American continent throughout all these early Christian centuries. Most American chiefdoms were agricultural (Hopewell, Mogollon, Hohokam and Anasazi) but along the
northwest coast there were unusually rich fishing grounds with whales and seals which supported large villages and
a complex ceremonial life. In the southwest it was near the end of the Early Basket Maker period of the Anasazi. In
their excavated graves, along with the baskets have been found skeletal remains of these ancient people, buried dressed
in string aprons and loin cloths made of hair, furs and feathers. No clay vessels or fired pottery have been found. (Ref.
8 ([14]), 210 ([283]))
2.18.1.1.3 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN
At this time, the beginning of the Classic Period in Middle America, Teotihuacán had become the largest of the ancient
Mexican empires, extending from the Valley of Mexico to Guatemala. In addition a new empire of the Mayas appeared
in Yucatan, with paved roads extending throughout the realm. Although the city was ancient, there were now probably
1,000 people living around Cuella, in northern Belize. A twelve foot high platform, spread over more than an acre,
has been dated to this 4th century in that place. Increasingly taller pyramids elevated temples as high as 30 feet above
the ground. Norman Hammond (Ref. 263 ([127])) who has recently excavated many archaeological layers at Cuello,
says that he has demonstrated an independent Maya cultural tradition there at least 4,000 years old, and he believes
that this area was the mainspring of Maya civilization - not highland Mexico or highland Central America, as some
have claimed. The entire Mayan Culture was marked by a distinctive art style, the use of the corbelled vault and
advanced mathematical concepts, including the use of zero, a complex calendar and the New World’s most advanced
writing system. (See also America: 300 to 201 B.C. (p. 88), America: 0 to A.D. 100 (Section 2.15.1.1.3: MEXICO,
CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN) and America: A.D. 101 to 200 (p. 97)). Mayan astronomers
calculated the exact length of the solar year, the lunar month, the revolution of planet Venus and were able to predict
eclipses. For the latter they used monuments similar in function to Stonehenge in England. Their sister civilization
in Peten also continued on a high level and the skilled Huastec builders of El Tajun at Veracruz diverted fresh-water
canals to fertile terraces between tidal rivers and brackish estuaries. This civilization flourished for 800 to 900 years.
(Ref. 8 ([14]), 39 ([60]), 236 ([314]))
2.18.1.1.4 SOUTH AMERICA
More information about the interesting Moche Culture of Peru is warranted at this time, even though they may have
lived at a much earlier period, and the accomplishments we shall mention now may be confused with the later Chan
Chan Society. A history of their race and customs seems to have been left in their ceramic art. Portrait ceramics show
the round face, high cheekbones and hooked nose, with flaring nostrils. The figures frequently depict vivid movement.
Their landscapes had unusual detail and their goldwork emphasized mosaics of turquoise encrusted on gold. Using
silver and copper in smelting techniques, they had the "lost-wax" method of casting and their own forms of welding,
soldering, hammering, gilding and repousse. Although their origin and date of appearance is highly debated, the
society apparently existed for about 1,000 years.
In the high country of the Peruvian-Bolivian border, the Tiahuanaco civilization persisted. In the south the Nazcas may
have had a close relationship with the Paracas, and a place known as Necropolis may have been used as a cemetery
for chiefs and priests of both tribes. More than four hundred mummies, all wrapped in shrouds and elaborate cloaks
have been found there in a building under the sands. Some of the embroidery designs show strange, masked people
who appear to be descending from above with the help of many ribbons, the significance of which remains unknown.
(Ref. 10 ([18]), 176 ([242]))
Foward to America: A.D. 401 to 500 (Section 2.19)
Choose Different Region
1. Intro to Era65
65 "A.D.
301 to 400" <http://cnx.org/content/m17710/latest/>
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
101
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Africa (Section 1.18)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.18)
Europe (Section 4.18)
The Far East (Section 6.18)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.18)
The Near East (Section 7.18)
Pacific (Section 8.18)
2.19 America: A.D. 401 to 50066
2.19.1 AMERICA
Back to America: A.D. 301 to 400 (Section 2.18)
2.19.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
2.19.1.1.1 THE FAR NORTH AND CANADA
Please see 6th (Section 2.9) and 1st centuries B.C. (Section 2.14) and 1st (Section 2.15), 3rd (Section 2.17) and 9th
centuries C.E. (Section 2.23) regarding Arctic Cultures. At Ungava Bay, 750 miles north of Quebec City, there are rock
walls dating to A.D. 500. Eskimo legend says they were built by a race of giants with a strange language - Vikings?
(Ref. 176 ([242])) Professor Fell (Ref. 66 ([97])) and Libyan colleagues have found a 5th century inscription at Figiug
Oasis, east Morocco, recording a flight of Christian monks to North America to escape the Vandals. The script was
Libyan, the language Libyan Arabic. An early Christian inscription in Libyan Arabic dialect has allegedly also been
found by Fell’s associates at Oak Island, Nova Scotia.
2.19.1.1.2 THE UNITED STATES
In this century the Hopewell trading networks broke down for some unknown reason and the Hopewell influence declined sharply. It is possible that a population explosion strained the limits of the economic system and the breakdown
resulted. But along the Mississippi the Mound Builders appeared, and these were the antecedents of the Choctaws
Chickasaw, Natches and others. Perhaps the greatest Indian monument of all time was constructed near Chillicothe,
Ohio. This Great Serpent Mound, representing a serpent with open jaws clasping an egg, is 1,254 feet long, winding
along hilltops with a coiled tail. It does not appear to have any connection with the effigy mounds farther north. See
also America in the 3rd century C.E. (Section 2.17) (Ref. 215 ([290]))
In the southwest this was the Basket Maker III or Late Basketmaker period of the Anasazi Indians who were using fired
earthenware pottery, the technique probably learned from the Mogollons to the south. The water supply for their crops
had become inconsistent drought alternating with floods, but the Anasazi solved this problem by special terracing and
the building of small dams with irrigation channels. One water-way in southwestern Colorado, however, was four
miles long. These people had become skillful builders, using stone and beginning to construct complex homes which
we now call pueblos. (Ref. 45 ([66]), 210 ([283]))
Once again we must report some almost unbelievable, unconfirmed statements of Barry Fell. In his latest book (Ref.
66 ([97])) he writes that mathematical notation was revolutionized in this century when Nevada voyagers brought
back the decimal system from India. Since European decimal ciphers were not used until the 11th century, this, if true,
would place American mathematicians far ahead of their Mediterranean contemporaries. The decimal system required
a new type of abacus, to the base ten, and such has allegedly been found in Indiana and is now in the Epigraphic
Museum. Abaci from Nevada have previously been mistaken for gaming boards, according to this same author. It is
66 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17787/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
102
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
very difficult to accept all these concepts at face value at this time without more corroboration, but Fell does present
his evidence in a convincing manner and who knows but what time may yet prove him right?
The pioneering phase of the Hohokam ended about A.D. 500. Interchange with Mexico had continued through the
centuries and now the bloody, Mexican ball game associated with religious ritual was introduced. Platform mounds
similar to those in Mexico were also erected for use of dancers and musicians. A favorite design on Hohokam pottery
was the snake, often shown being attacked by a bird (feathered serpent motive). After the end of this century the
Hohokam began to spread out from the desert valleys, moving up the rivers north and northeast. (Ref. 210 ([283]))
The Mogollon Culture farther to the east continued as previously and it is apparent in the literature that not all writers
separate this from the Hohokam and/or Anasazi cultures, but in some respects it is definitely unique. (Ref. 210 ([283]))
2.19.1.2 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN
This may have been the zenith of the Teotihuacan civilization which was the spiritual metropolis of Mexico. Despite a
century of modern research no one still is able to say for certain who built this great city, what language they spoke or
why they suddenly seemed to vanish. It overlooked a fertile valley with plenty of water and great supplies of obsidian,
the raw material for utensils and weapons of great sharpness. Nine-tenths of the city is still buried today. (Ref. 176
([242]))
There was also continued growth of the Maya centers of Yucatan with extensive trading including the importation of
salt, obsidian and other minerals such as hematite, pyrite and jade. Craftsmen, accountants, commercial diplomats
and other experts were needed to run this network. (Ref. 215 ([290])) According to Principal Epochs of the Ancient
History of Yucatan, written in the Maya language from memory by an elderly Indian and translated by the 19th century
Don Pio Perez67 the Mayas thought that they were descendants of the Toltecs of Mexico who had arrived in Yucatan
between 144 and 217 of our era, but Bacalar and Chichen Itze were apparently not established until between 360 and
432. A few people continued to live in dispersed settlements around the old center of Cerros until about 450, but this
would never again recover its place in the great trade network.
This century marked the end of the Period IV in Costa Rican history and was marked by the prolific jade carvings.
The best quality jadeite may have been brought to Costa Rica from the north, indicating more and more contact with
other Mesoamerican cultures.
Perhaps ceremonial metates, maceheads and jades were used there by an elite group who held these items as badges
of office. Most of the jades take the form of the axe-god in which a forest clearing tool makes up the lower half of a
pendant. (Ref. 265 ([270]))
2.19.1.3 SOUTH AMERICA
In the heart of the central coast of Peru there is a long archeological gap from the time of the Chavin Society to about
A.D. 450 when the Early Lima or the Maranga Society appeared with the building of a number of ziggurats on a large
hacienda. Maranga territory, as revealed by pottery remains, stretched from the Chillon to the Lurin valleys. The
people probably used lateral canals for irrigation. By the beginning of the 20th century there were still about 75 of
their great pyramidal mound dwellings in and around Lima but they are gone now. In the lower Chillon Valley there
are the ruins of a vast rectangular enclosure 700 feet long, made of trapezoidal clay blocks, each weighing several
hundred pounds. They also made long, high, straight walls, miles long, running obliquely to the river bank. These
people apparently came from "nowhere" and disappeared again after a few centuries.
During this same period the Tiahuanaco Society flourished in the high Andes. (See multiple previous centuries).
In the south the Nazcas may have reached their apex with the construction of the puzzling giant geometric shapes
and outlines of animals and plants, made by arranging stones in lines covering some 200 square miles and actually
identifiable only from the air. Tons of small stones were so used and strings were stretched from posts to keep the lines
67 As
quoted in the Appendix of Stephens book (Ref. 205 ([276])).
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
103
straight. Carbon dating of some of the post remains indicates A.D. 500. Maria Reiche, who has spent her adult life in
these desert drawings, believes that they are forms of a giant calendar. Another possibility is that they were part of a
fertility cult.
In Columbia, 250 miles south-west of Bogata, in a dense forest there are more than 300 large stone statues, some 14
to 21 feet tall, some with teeth like cats and some which seem to be feeding on the children they are holding. Carbon
- 14 dating indicates that these were made between this 5th and the 12th centuries. A certain affinity of these statues
to those of Easter Island gives some further credence to Thor Heyerdahl’s theories of South American migrations into
the Pacific. (Ref. 62 ([91]), 176 ([242]))
Forward to America: A.D. 501 to 600 (Section 2.20)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era68
Africa (Section 1.19)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.19)
Europe (Section 4.19)
The Far East (Section 6.19)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.19)
The Near East (Section 7.19)
Pacific (Section 8.19)
2.20 America: A.D. 501 to 60069
2.20.1 AMERICA
2.20.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
Back to America: A.D. 401 to 500 (Section 2.19)
2.20.1.1.1 CANADA AND THE FAR NORTH
See previous chapters and 9th century C.E. (Section 2.23), as well as Europe: A.D. 501 to 600 (Section 4.20.1.3.3.3:
IRELAND).
2.20.1.1.2 THE UNITED STATES
The Mississippian Culture of Mound Builders, which now replaced the decaying Hopewell Culture, flowered along
the Mississippi River and other river systems of the south.
Archaeologists do not agree about its origin. Some attribute it to the migration of ideas from Mexico or Central
America and it is true that some of the sophisticated art does resemble Middle American. But even more of the art
seems to have had roots in Adena or Hopewell and current thinking treats the Mississippian as an indigenous culture,
an outgrowth of the Hopewell blended with late arriving Mexican elements. The characteristic feature of the culture
is the pyramidal mound serving as a foundation for a temple or a chief’s house. Some centers were very small but
others were gigantic, as Cahokia at East St. Louis, Illinois, where there were more than 85 mounds and a village area
that extended for six miles along the Ohio River. One of the largest of the mounds was about 100 feet high and its
base covered 16 acres. The immensity of the labor involved, without the use of wheels or beasts of burden, is almost
unbelievable. The entire enterprise may have taken several hundreds of years. The Mississippian population was dense
in that at least 383 villages bordered the Mississippi River in the short distance of about 700 miles between points of
68 "A.D.
69 This
401 to 500" <http://cnx.org/content/m17711/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17788/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
104
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
entrance of the Ohio and Red rivers respectively and there were thousands of other villages up and down the other
parts of the river system. (Ref. 64 ([94]))
If we are to believe Professor Fell (Ref. 66 ([97])) Libyan science and mathematics continued to flourish in the
southwest. The Hohokam continued their colonizing migrations, beginning their colonial period sometime after 550,
spreading artifacts over most of Arizona and taking with them their customs, including the sacred ball-game. Farther
northeast the Anasazi or Pueblo Builders, continued advancement with better pottery designs and increased trade,
importing abalone shells and turquoise. (Ref. 269 ([193])) From a source still unknown they obtained the bow and
arrow and they developed the hafted ax. Agriculture increased with the cultivation of better corn, squash and beans,
which added protein to their diet. Their population then soared and their settlements spread so that they even had pit
houses in the cliffs of the Grand Canyon. (Ref. 277 ([37]))
2.20.1.2 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN
Teotihuacán in the Valley of Mexico was at the height of its power and was larger than imperial Rome, some estimating
the population at 125,000 with an area of 20 square kilometers. (Ref. 8 ([14])) It was a religious and cultural capital
and a major economic and political center for Middle America. Its power extended widely with intermingling of
tribes and cultures, so that there was a strong Mexican presence even at Kaminaljuyu (now Guatemala City). Even the
lowland Maya region, as at Tikal, had Teotihuacan artistic traditions, although Tikal was only one-fifth as large as the
Mexican city.
The Maya had a number of languages, all closely related but not mutually intelligible. There were two principal
divisions - the lowlands groups, including Yucatec, Chol and Chorti - and the highlands (Guatemalan) which included
Mam and Quiche. The educated Maya were profoundly intellectual and we have noted their mathematics (0 to 100
A.D. (Section 2.15.1.1.3: MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN)) and astronomy (A.D. 301 to
400 (p. 100)) previously. A great renaissance of Mayan Culture now took place in the cities of Yucatan, gradually
supplanting the importance of Peten, in the south. (Ref. 177 ([243]), 146 ([199]), 215 ([290]), 163 ([222])) According
to traditions, picture writings and Mexican manuscripts written after the conquest, the Toltecs70 were banished from
their native country northwest of Mexico in 596 and proceeded southward. (Ref. 205 ([276]))
This century marks the beginning of Period V of Costa Rican prehistory, with each of three archaeological zones
developing independently. In Guanacaste-Nicoya there was the beginning of the famous Nicoya polychrome pottery
tradition which resembled Maya ceramics of the Late Classic period of Honduras and El Salvador. The progress in
Panama seemed to come more or less to a halt and this country never developed any truly state-centered societies as
seen farther north in Central America. (Ref. 266 ([67]))
2.20.1.3 SOUTH AMERICA
2.20.1.3.1 NORTHERN AND WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA
Along various parts of the Magdalena River Valley in Colombia and particularly near San Agustin are enormous
piles of debris, some of which have been excavated revealing sculptured monoliths and the whole indicating a great
ceremonial center something like a Maya complex. Radio-carbon datings indicate activity in this 6th century with
continuation for another 1,000 years. Since it has some similarities to both the Olmecs and to Easter Island the question
arises as to whether this astonishing statuary was local in origin or from migrating people from Central America or
even from Polynesia. Just east of Popayan on the eastern hot-land part of Andean Columbia is an interior, isolated
valley called "Tierradentro" where there are interesting monuments perhaps dating to this same era, although it may
be a secondary society having existed a thousand years later. Accurate dating has not been accomplished. Tombs there
have long ago been looted, probably of gold and jewels, but three dimensional statues reminiscent of Easter Island and
representing anthropomorphic gods are comparable to those of San Agustin. (Ref. 62 ([91]))
70 This suggests the probability of more continuity and interrelationships among the original Mexican populations than often stated. Modern
histories do not mention the Toltecs as a separate people until about the 9th century.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
105
Peru consisted of about nine separate regions, each with its own local art style in this century. The Moche, or their
descendants, and the Nasca were supreme but other states of some consequence were Cajamarca, Recuary, Lima,
Huarpa, Waru, Tiahuanaco and Atacameno, all of which used gold, silver and copper for tools as well as jewelry. In
Ecuador, beginning about A.D. 500, there were people of the Milagro Culture, noted for elaborate work in gold and
for artificial mounds for burial places and home sites. Some of the latter seem to be associated with ridge systems and
others with rectangular earth- works, probably made to farm lands subject to seasonal flooding. This culture may have
been an off-shoot of the Moche of Peru, described in previous chapters. Similar farming ridges cover many thousands
of acres in Bolivia and Colombia and are present near Lake Titicaca, although the dating of these has not been done.
(Ref. 9 ([15]), 62 ([91]))
2.20.1.3.2 EASTERN SOUTH AMERICA
There were farming tribes in the Amazon rain forest, cultivating manioc. Farther south the Tuni-Guarania tribes had
migrated from the Amazon basin into the Brazilian forest and savannah. In what in now Argentina, there was the
Aguada Culture about A.D. 600, characterized by black and yellow pottery with feline motives. (Ref. 8 ([14]), 45
([66]))
Forward to America: A.D. 601 to 700 (Section 2.21)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era71
Africa (Section 1.20)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.20)
Europe (Section 4.20)
The Far East (Section 6.20)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.20)
The Near East (Section 7.20)
Pacific (Section 8.20)
2.21 America: A.D. 601 to 70072
2.21.1 AMERICA
Back to America: A.D. 501 to 600 (Section 2.20)
2.21.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
2.21.1.1.1 THE FAR NORTH AND CANADA
(See previous (Section 2.20) and 9th centuries (Section 2.23))
2.21.1.1.2 THE UNITED STATES
By 600 A.D. the cultural primacy in North America had passed from the Hopewell area to the lower Mississippi valley,
particularly in the fertile flood plain between St. Louis and New Orleans, the land of the Mound Builders. (Ref. 215
([290])).
In the southwest the Anasazi Indians continued to multiply, with Basket-maker sites extending from the region of
present day Lake Mead in Nevada, through southern Utah into the southwest corner of Colorado and then down to
northwestern New Mexico and northeastern Arizona. By both archeomagnetism dating of charred wood beams of
71 "A.D.
72 This
501 to 600" <http://cnx.org/content/m17712/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17790/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
106
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
burned pit-house ceilings and tree-ring dating, their society can be followed in this large area quite exactly. (Ref. 277
([37])) The Hohokam Colonial Period and the Mogollon Cultures continued south of the Anasazi.
About A.D. 600 a distinctive group of Indians appeared near the lower end of the Colorado River (southwestern
Arizona and an extreme eastern slice of California). These were called the Patayan (also Hakataya) and were Yumanspeaking people who used the flood plains of the Colorado delta for farming, had a unique paddle and anvil pottery
decorated with red paint and ground their corn on a trough-shaped metate. Living in this area for 900 years, they
became then the modern Yumas, Cocopah, Maricopa, Havasupai, Mojave and Walapai. (Ref. 45 ([66]), 210 ([283]))
Consistent with his other claims, Fell (Ref. 66 ([97])) purports to read Islamic inscriptions on certain Nevada rocks
and feels that Arabic Libyans made these shortly after A.D. 650 when Islam came into North Africa.
2.21.1.2 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN
By A.D. 600 Teotihuacán in Mexico had a population of perhaps 150,000 to 200,000 and covered about 8 square
miles. The city was laid out in a precise grid pattern with large city buildings and apartments for families, offering
a maximum of privacy in a crowded city. There still is considerable confusion as to the people who lived in this
community.
As mentioned in a previous chapter, old Indian legend called these people "Toltecs" and this may be accurate, even
though current usage reserves this term for the later rejuvenated civilization centered at Tula in the 9th and 10th
centuries. By at least 650, Teotihuacán was beginning to show signs of impending collapse and the reason for this is
another thing that has not been clarified. (Ref. 45 ([66]), 215 ([290]), 176 ([242]))
The lowland Maya made a strong comeback in this century, with several centers flourishing. At least 45,000 people
lived at or around Tikal and its sprawling pyramids, temples and house mounds covered some 38 square miles in the
dense rain forest of northern Peten.
The most elaborate structure was the so-called northern Acropolis, which covered 2112 acres with 100 buildings and
at one time 16 temples. At the same time the Yucatan Mayas were also active. (Ref. 45 ([66]), 215 ([290])) The Period
V Culture continued in Costa Rica, as noted in the last chapter.
2.21.1.3 SOUTH AMERICA
In Peru the balance of power after A.D. 600 shifted from the coast to the highlands where the city of Tiahuanaco and
the Huari military machine dominated the central Andes by carving out empires that included not only all of Peru and
Bolivia, but also part of northern Chile. There were still coastal people of the Nazca Culture, however, and a study of
the skeleton of an 8 year old boy from around A.D. 700 in this area showed classical Pott’s disease (tuberculosis of the
spine) with a psoas abscess, renal disease, pericarditis and terminal miliary tuberculosis of his lungs. In the north there
was still Moche influence, perhaps manifested at that time in the Chimu Society, although dating has been difficult.
(Ref. 8 ([14]), 3 ([4]))
Forward to America: A.D. 701 to 800 (Section 2.22)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era73
Africa (Section 1.21)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.21)
Europe (Section 4.21)
The Far East (Section 6.21)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.21)
The Near East (Section 7.21)
Pacific (Section 8.21)
73 "A.D.
601 to 700" <http://cnx.org/content/m17714/latest/>
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
107
2.22 America: A.D. 701 to 80074
2.22.1 AMERICA
Back to America: A.D. 601 to 700 (Section 2.21)
2.22.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
2.22.1.1.1 THE FAR NORTH AND CANADA
The Dorset Arctic Culture continued its many centuries of existence in the far north. Additional details will be given
in the next chapter. We have little definitive information about the Canadian Indian tribes at this particularly period,
but certainly the far western groups continued as previously and may well have been the sending-off point for the
Polynesian migrations into the Pacific.
2.22.1.1.2 THE UNITED STATES
"The scale and flamboyance of Mississipian social dwarfed anything known before in North America."75 There were
enormous ceremonial centers, with truncated pyramids and huge plazas (as at Cohokia, Mississipi) resembling Mexican centers, with brilliant artistry and a new religious symbolism, reflecting a fascination with human sacrifice, sun
and fire. The people had corn fields, pottery, obsidian knives, warehouses, administrative buildings, copper, shell,
stone and wood objects. Copper sheets were embossed with human portraits. There was apparently a nobility who
lived in special homes arranged about the temples. This society flourished for at least 8 centuries (Ref. 215 ([290])).
The central and lower Mississippi cultures were centered between St. Louis and Memphis but spread to Wisconsin,
Oklahoma, and Alabama and was still in existence when the Spanish came with the white man’s diseases. The
Encyclopedia of Archeology (Ref. 45 ([66])) says that the new traits of this culture were:
1. Rectangular, flat topped mounds used for temple bases
2. New pottery - using pulverized shell for temper with new shapes and decorations
3. Maize, as the chief crop
Some of the truncated platform temple mounds were up to 100 feet tall, with structures for religious and/or political
purposes on top. Frequently there were several in clusters, spread over several acres. The temples area and residences
were surrounded by maize fields with the Corn Mother goddess playing a vital role in the lives of the Mississippian
people. Beans, peas, squash and sunflowers rounded out their crops. (Ref. 267 ([321])).
The historic Indian tribes of the plains such as the Pawnee, Osage, and Arikara, for example, perpetuated the mixed
horticultural and bison hunting economy of the previous 800 to 1,000 years. Some of their ancestors’ large villages
have been excavated along the Missouri and its tributaries. (Ref. 88 ([131]))
The Colonial Period of the Hohokam continued in the southwest. Their ball courts varied greatly in size from 20
meters to over 100 meters in length. Some believe they were used for the religious Meso-American style ball games
but others believe they were stages for a dance. (Ref. 269 ([193])) According to the remaining available arrow heads,
it was sometime between 700 and 900 that the bow and arrow began to be used, rather than the spear, by the Mogollon
tribes. These people, first to use pottery in the southwest, developed increasing skill in this endeavor, as they made it by
coiling and scraping, not with a pottery wheel. In northern Arizona and New Mexico the Anasazi Culture now shifted
from the Basket-maker into the Pueblo Period, with five sub-divisions extending up to modern times. The Pueblo
I period lasted two centuries from A.D. 700 to 900, with their pottery showing some strange new shapes, including
some made to look like birds. (Ref. 66 ([97]), 210 ([283]), 88 ([131])) Masonry rubble in the Chaco Canyon suggests
a gradual shift to ground-level construction of multi-roomed houses which were the first pueblos. It was at this time
74 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17791/1.2/>.
from "Who were the Mound Builders?", by Brian Fagan, in Mysteries of the Past, Ref. 215 ([290]), page 131.
75 Quotation
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
108
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
that the Anasazi mothers started strapping their babies to hard, wooden cradleboards producing flattening of the back
of their heads. Kivas became focal points of community and religious practices. (Ref. 252 ([101])).76
2.22.1.2 MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA
Legend says that the Toltecs built their capital at Tula in A.D. 720. About 750 much of central Teotihucuan was looted
and burned. Perhaps developing drought and arid conditions, as well as military pressure from the north, contributed
to the down fall of this civilization, which then shrunk to a series of villages over an area of one square kilometer. Its
fall had repercussions throughout middle America. (Ref. 215 ([290]), 176 ([242]))
Although it is difficult to keep Fell’s (Ref. 66 ([97])) chronology sorted out, he seems to imply that it was in this
century that Americans from the southwest, perhaps with Libyan influence, explored the Pacific and mapped Hawaii.
The lowland Maya Culture continued strong and the National Geographic Society (Ref. 155 ([214])) dates extensive
Mayan projects in Tikal, Guatemala, to this century. These included a summit temple 212 feet high. At the height of
its power Tikal had 40,000 inhabitants and its nuclear area alone had more than 3,000 separate structures and some 200
stone monuments, not to mention reservoirs, a central acropolis and a square containing a market area, sweat bath and
a ball-game court. A great Maya ceremonial center was at Palenque, Mexico, and one of the most beautiful city sites
of the Classic Period was at Copan, Honduras. (Ref. 88 ([131])) Some buildings, as at Uxmal, Mexico, had cement
and rubble cores faced with a veneer of thin, finely carved limestone slabs and elaborately decorated moldings. Three
rooms of painted narrative scenes of Maya life were completed at Bonampak, near the Quatemalan border. Henri
Stierlin (Ref. 176 ([242])) writes that the Mayan Yucatan civilization was in full bloom in this century and on through
the 10th, creating new styles of architecture. Among the Maya, medicine was carried on by two separate groups:
Hemenes, priests organized into a medical society; and the lesser, non-priestly hechiceros, who took care of treating
wounds, opening abscesses, reducing fractures, controlling bleeding, etc. (Ref. 125 ([173]))
In Costa Rica the Nicoya polychrome pottery tradition expanded and diversified, producing the first white-slipped
vessels with brilliant red, orange and black painting. These appear to have been made almost exclusively in the
northern part of Greater Nicoya, while buff to orange-slipped ceramics were made in centers of Guanacaste. (Ref. 265
([270]))
2.22.1.3 SOUTH AMERICA
2.22.1.3.1 NORTHERN AND WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA
Huari, capital of a political state which embraced most of Peru, was overthrown and abandoned about A.D. 800 and
Peru was not unified again until the Inca conquest of the 15th century. (Ref. 8 ([14])) The archeology of this entire
period of A.D. 600 to 1,000 is called the Middle Horizon and it includes the emergence of the characteristic style of
Tiahuanaco, near Lake Titicaca. There was control of food resources and population movements over a wide area but
particularly near Tiahuanaco where the altitude is over 12,000 feet. This Middle Horizon Culture showed polychrome
pottery beakers with human, animal and other designs. There was an urban area of perhaps one square mile with an
estimated population of between 5,000 and 20,000. (Ref. 88 ([131]))
Tiahuanaco had a bird-man cult (as the later Chimu and also Easter Island) and the later Inca traditions maintained
that the legendary god-men who built Tiahuanaco extended their ear lobes and called themselves "Big Ears" (just as
the original Easter Island inhabitants). Later Spanish explorers, particularly Pizarro’s companion, Juan de Betanzos,
who married an Inca woman, recorded the legend that the white and bearded Tiahuanaco leader, Ticci, stopped over
in Cuzco on the way from Lake Titicaca to appoint a local successor and leave orders about producing the large ears,
before he went down to the ocean, never to be seen again. This Ticci, who left the Peruvian coast, is undoubtedly
the same Tiki-with-large-ears, of Marquesan myth, who led humanity to Polynesia but it is only on Easter Island that
ear extension assumed social importance equal to that of Peru. What is definitely known is that Tiahuanacoid objects
76 Although it is difficult to keep Fell’s (Ref. 66 ([97])) chronology sorted out, he seems to imply that it was in this century that Americans from
the southwest, perhaps with Libyan influence, explored the Pacific and mapped Hawaii.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
109
made in the upper Andes began to appear in the lower, central Andes about A.D. 750. Whether this merely represents
the raiding of war parties to the lower lands or actual domination of the lower valleys by the Tiahuanacoid chiefdoms
is not known. (Ref. 95 ([140]), 62 ([91]))
The remnants of the Moche kingdom continued to decline as the southern states dominated the area. On the coast of
Surinam, in what later became Dutch Guiana, about A.D. 700 the sea encroached on the land so that the people were
obliged to build a mound as a village site and presumably to make ridges for their crops. This mounded area was
occupied continuously until at least A.D. 900. (Ref. 167 ([226]))
2.22.1.3.2 EASTERN SOUTH AMERICA
On the eastern part of the continent there were two settled areas - the Amazonas and Orinoco Basin - and the southern
plains. The chief settlement in the latter was the Parana basin where archeologists have found sites dating back to
the high Holocene period. But in this 8th century great numbers of Tupis and Guaranis came from Brazil to settle in
this region. They lived in fortified villages, eating corn, squash and fish. Even in Brazil, ethnologists have observed
cultural traits that are typical of the later Africanized Ecuadorian coast. There are many items that speak for continent
to continent migration. The practice of circumcision, for one, may link eastern South America with Africa, not just
South Asia. (Ref. 62 ([91]))
Forward to America: A.D. 801 to 900 (Section 2.23)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era77
Africa (Section 1.22)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.22)
Europe (Section 4.22)
The Far East (Section 6.22)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.22)
The Near East (Section 7.22)
Pacific (Section 8.22)
2.23 America: A.D. 801 to 90078
2.23.1 AMERICA
Back to America: A.D. 701 to 800 (Section 2.22)
2.23.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
2.23.1.1.1 THE FAR NORTH AND CANADA
We have noted previously that since at least 2,300 B.C. northern Canada was inhabited by tribes of the Arctic Small
Tool people, who, after about 600 B.C., were called the "Dorsets". A Dorset longhouse, carbon-dated to between A.D.
800 and 900, has just recently been excavated near the shore of the Knud Peninsula of Ellesmere Island by Professor
Peter Schledermann and his associates. (Ref. 189 ([259])) This house consisted of a framework of waist-high walls
built of boulders with the base measuring 16 x 148 feet, which was believed to be the foundation for a row of skin
tents. Nearby was a 100 foot row of outdoor, individual stone hearths, 18 in number, with stone platforms, apparently
used as tables, between them. The community probably contained 100 people and debris on the longhouse floors
would indicate that they dined well on various birds, foxes, arctic hares, seals, walruses, belugas and even narwhals.
This particular settlement was evidently among the last for this people, as in the next century or two they mysteriously
77 "A.D.
78 This
701 to 800" <http://cnx.org/content/m17716/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17792/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
110
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
disappeared. At about this same time in this 9th century the Thule Culture, which appears to have involved a new,
invading Inuit people, appeared throughout northern Canada. They had dog teams, kayaks, umiaks and winter igloos.
They were seal hunters, ivory carvers and wore tailored skin clothing. Apparently they first coexisted with the Dorset
groups, as Dorset artifacts have been found in Thule houses. (Ref. 189 ([259]), 209 ([282]))
Trager (Ref. 222 ([296])) says that Greenland was discovered in 900 by the Norseman Gunbjorn, who was blown off
course en route to Iceland from Norway.
2.23.1.1.2 THE UNITED STATES
In the central and southeastern United States the Mississippian Mound-builders Culture continued, with perhaps an
increasing Mexican influence from extensive trading activities. This culture seemed to spread throughout the southeastern United States just before A.D. 900. (Ref. 284 ([130])) Exquisite carved wooden figures have been found from
the Key Marco Culture of Florida, dating to as early as A.D. 800. (Ref. 215 ([290]))
The Anasazia Culture, which had originally developed from the Desert Archaic in Colorado, New Mexico and northern Arizona, had now reached a high level of development with elaborate pueblo dwellings. At Mesa Verde, Colorado,
some apartment houses had 800 rooms. There was some irrigation and the people were skilled in weaving, basketry, pottery, masonry, and masonry architecture. They led a ceremonial and artistic life and were skilled artisans in
turquoise jewelry as well as wooden and bone tools and utensils. All through this century, however, much of the southern Colorado plateau became climatically unfit for growing corn, with even the best areas marginal. Below elevations
of 5, 500 feet the land was too dry and above 7,500 it was too cold. As a result, the Anasazi were constantly moving,
looking for more favorable sites. Excavations indicate that of 2,000 to 3,000 inhabitants of the Dolores Valley all were
gone by the next century. Their salvation came with new irrigation practices, using shallow channels to divert run-off
onto small fields and check dams that collected eroding soil and held the water that carried it. (Ref. 277 ([37])) In
archeological classification the Pueblo I phase terminated at A.D. 900.
The Hohokams, living south and west of the Anasazi, had a much more extensive irrigation system. Fell (Ref. 66
([97])) agrees with most that the Pima Indians of today are direct descendants of the Hohokams but be believes that
Hohokam relics in ancient Libyan language can be identified in the Pima chants, and this not all would concede. Fell
believes that the degree of cultural advancement of these 9th century, southwestern Indians is not readily appreciated
today. There is a petroglyph in the so-called Court of Antiquity in Washoe County, Nevada, which he interprets as
Arabic Kufi, giving instructions on how to find the area of a circle by dividing it into six equal sectors and then
rearranging them. The method gives an approximation of "pi" at 3.0. At that time painted pottery was becoming more
and more complex in the Mogollon area of southern New Mexico and Chihuahua. (Ref. 64 ([94]), 66 ([97]), 210
([283]))
2.23.1.2 MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA
Various small, non-urban centers of civilization continued in Mexico, with the Toltec period probably just beginning.
The Zapotecs had deserted Monte Albans and the Classic Mayan central lowland sites were pretty well abandoned in
this century. The northern part of this lowland culture did not decline as rapidly as the southern portion, but one by
one the major ceremonial centers were abandoned and their stelae mutilated and calendars discontinued. Although
the Yucatan cities lasted into the next century, the Mayan civilization was doomed to collapse as had the Olmec and
Teotihuacan before them. Archeological studies give no real evidence of natural calamity, pestilence, massive slaughter
or starvation and the real cause still eludes us. Some still feel that there may be some connection to the persistence of
endemic, contagious disease, possibly yellow fever, which was called "black vomit" in the Maya pictograms. (Ref. 45
([66]), 215 ([290]), 125 ([173]))
Further support to the possibility of disease factors is given indirectly by the works of John L. Stephens (Ref. 204
([278]), 205 ([276])), who explored the Yucatan peninsula in the early l9th century. He found that the entire area of the
old Maya ruins was unbelievably infested with mosquitoes and severe fevers, undoubtedly both malaria and yellow
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
111
fever. In addition, the area was made almost unbearable by a small tick-like insect, Garrapatas, which, in addition to
the seriousness of their multiple bites, could well have been disease carriers.
Still another possible reason for the disappearance of the civilization is suggested by Stephens’s writings, in that the
entire area is almost devoid of drinking water for several months each year. In place after place the only source of
water which the Indians had was a well hidden away in the depths of a cave, sometimes several miles from the Indian
village. For example: the village of Bolonchen, with 7,000 people, had to go down 1,400 feet into a cave to get their
water during 4 or 5 months each year. It would seem within the realm of possibility that if two or three drought years
occurred together, even such a difficult cave well supply system might have failed and the people would have had to
leave.
It must be admitted, however, that most modern writers tend to attach a political and sociological significance to
the Maya decline. The theory is that an aristocracy controlled the great temples and religious centers and taxed the
surrounding peasants up to a point where the latter rebelled and destroyed not only the aristocracy but their material
effects - the temples and pyramids, etc., as well.
The Yucatec Society, which seems to have sprung from the original, lowland, parent Mayan Society, was generally
inferior to the latter but did have considerable metallurgic advancements and extensive geographical locations on the
peninsula. As early as 1840 Stephens had uncovered 44 ancient cities, including such as Merido, Mayapan, Uxmal,
Tankuche, Xcoch, Kabah, Chack, Skabachtshe, Labna, Kewick, Xampon, Chunhuhu, Hiokowitz, Kuepak, Zekilna,
Labphak, Iturbide, Macoba, Bolonchen and Chichen Itza. A few further details about some of these ruins, as Stephens
found them, may be of interest.
Mayapan was situated on a great plain, thickly overgrown with vegetation. The circumference of the area of the
remnants was about 3 miles. Included was a pyramid 60 feet high, 100 feet square at the base, with 4 grand staircases.
This was the original capital of the Maya when the entire peninsula was united under one king. Supposedly Mayapan
was destroyed by warring chiefs in 1420, only 270 years after the founding of the city79 Uxmal had very elaborate
hieroglyphics over doorways and great numbers of subterranean cisterns, plaster-lined, apparently for storage of water.
Ruins near Tankuche Hacienda had fabulous paintings in red, green, yellow and blue colors. In the remains of the city
of Xcoch there was a well of great depth in a cave, with a deep track worn in the rock, made by long continued tread of
thousands of people. This cave was known by the local Indians in the 19th century and ascribed to remote people they
called "antiguos". In Kabah there were beautifully carved heiroglyphics on lintels, done so finely that it is difficult to
know how it was accomplished without metal instruments. At Chack there was another well in a deep, many layered
cave as the only water supply over a three mile area. The well was some 1,500 feet down from the cave entrance.
Ruined cities were found about every 9 miles, as Stephens trudged through the jungle. At Sachey there was a paved
road of pure white stone and the Indians said that it had originally run from Kabah to Uxmal, for couriers carrying
letters written on leaves or bark. This was a recurring legend. (Ref. 205 ([276]))
The National Geographic (Ref. 155 ([214])) calls A.D. 900 the end of the Classic Period of Mesoamerican society.
The people of this society shared a common heritage of shared customs, beliefs and artifacts, such as hieroglyphic
writing, a ritual ball game played in an I-shaped court, blood offerings in the forms of both self-mutilation and human
sacrifices, temples on pyramid platforms, arithmetical systems using a base of 20, use of a calendar of 365 days, with a
200 day ritual calendar besides, and some common gods. About the only point of differentiation between the Yucatan
and the Mexican peoples was language. Absent were the keystone arch, plow, alphabetic writing, glass, explosives,
the wheel for transport and iron. Copper and gold had appeared only about A.D. 700. (Ref. 88 ([131]), 205 ([276]))
Additional Notes (p. 112)
2.23.1.3 SOUTH AMERICA
We mentioned in the last chapter that both the Huari and Tiahuacaco had developed great empires. The extent of the
latter one is indicated by Engle’s 1974 excavation of a 23 foot raft in the far south of Peru containing typical Tiahuanaco
79 All
of Stephens’s dates seem to be more recent than current dating processes indicate.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
112
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
decorations. It was composed of several cylindrical reed rollers, held together by small ropes. The appearance of
Tiahuanacoid motifs in the coastal valleys corresponded with the disappearance of the Mochica themes farther north
and the Maranga and Nazca ones farther south. Neither of the great empires had very long lasting effects, however,
and by the end of this 9th century decadence had already reappeared in some areas as the old coastal traditions again
began to dominate. (Ref. 62 ([91]))
NOTE : The Late Classic period of Central America (A.D. 600-900) shows another active time of tool making
in the region of Colha, Belize. Twenty work-shops of this period have been excavated, identified by mounds
of waste flakes and broken tools. Some of these mounds are 1.5 meters deep and cover up to 500 square
meters. The end of the Late Classic may have been a violent period of Colha. There is a skull pit containing
28 decapitated heads of men, women and children, with the skulls placed on fragments of Terminal Classic
polychromes. The pit was covered with debris from the burning and destruction of adjacent buildings. (Ref.
304 ([138]))
Forward to America: A.D. 901 to 1000 (Section 2.24)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era80
Africa (Section 1.23)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.23)
Europe (Section 4.23)
The Far East (Section 6.23)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.23)
The Near East (Section 7.23)
Pacific (Section 8.23)
2.24 America: A.D. 901 to 100081
2.24.1 AMERICA
Back to America: A.D. 801 to 900 (Section 2.23)
2.24.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
2.24.1.1.1 THE FAR NORTH AND CANADA
We have previously mentioned the Thule Inuit Culture which spread all across the Canadian arctic and Greenland
after about 800 A. D. No one knows if the Thule people drove off or simply absorbed the Dorset tribes. Perhaps the
latter simply couldn’t adapt to the warming climatic change that occurred about this time. In summer the Thule people
lived in tents, as had the Dorsets, but their winter houses were better. Foundations of these structures were dug into
the ground with tunnel entrances, which trapped warm air inside, and walls and roofs were added of stone, sod or
occasionally the baleen and bones bowhead whales. (Ref. 45 ([66]), 189 ([259]))
The eastern coast of Greenland is only about 250 statue-miles across the Denmark Strait from Iceland, so it is not
remarkable that Icelanders soon knew of its existence. Of course the eastern coast of Greenland is and was very
inhospitable to man and the journey around its southern tip to the more livable western coast was somewhat difficult.
The fact that the climatic conditions were different in the 10th century and that at A.D. 1,000 parts of Greenland were
actually green, probably helped. At any rate, Erik the Red, known as a criminal both in his original Jaeder, Norway
home and also in Iceland, took to the sea about 980, landing and exploring southern Greenland, a land which had been
80 "A.D.
81 This
801 to 900" <http://cnx.org/content/m17717/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17793/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
113
reported as seen by another Icelander some 50 years or more previously. After three years of exploration, Eric returned
to Iceland, got into more trouble and organized one of the largest arctic expeditions on record to return to Greenland
for permanent settlement. He obtained 35 cargo vessels82 with several hundred men, women and children and all their
possessions, including horses, cattle, sheep, pigs and dogs. Only 14 of these open ships were actually able to round
the stormy south cape of Greenland to safely land on the quieter west coast, but there they built their settlements 83 .
Seals, fish, whales and sea-birds were abundant and fur and walrus ivory could be exported to Europe.
At the very end of the century Leif Erikson, son of Eric the Red, while on a regular trade trip back to Norway,
was entertained by the enthusiastic Christian King Olav Tryggveson and commissioned to take a Catholic priest and
several religious teachers back to Greenland. Leif departed Norway just before Olav’s death in 1,000 and did bring
Christianity to Greenland and shortly thereafter allegedly to Vinland84 on the true North American continent. This
mainland had been accidentally discovered by Bjarno Herjolfsson from Iceland when on his first trip to Greenland he
had missed that large island and hit Newfoundland.
Recent excavations on the northern most tip of Newfoundland have revealed remains of houses, boat sheds and bronze
equipment, obviously Norse and dated to about A.D. 1000. (Ref. 237 ([316]), 95 ([140]), 215 ([290])) Brandel quotes
from a lecture by Henri Pirenne: "America (when the Vikings reached it) was lost as soon as it was discovered, because
Europe did not yet need it."85
2.24.1.1.2 THE UNITED STATES
In mid-continent the Mississippi Culture flourished. In the Ozarks of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Mississippi, bluff
dwellers constructed rock-shelters, caves and open village sites. Baskets of twilled weave, flour sieves and containers,
hunting, fishing, farming bone hoes and tools as well as antler and wooden digging sticks and pottery have been
found. These sites were occupied throughout this century and after. It is probable that at about the end of the century
the Mississippi group of tribes began to feel the sting of Iroquois attacks from the south, as there are reasons for
suspecting that these fierce warriors came via the Gulf of Mexico, probably from South America. (Ref. 66 ([97]))
Marvin F. Kivett, of the Nebraska State Historical Society, has identified the "Initial Coalescent Culture" that existed
from about 900 to 1,400 in the Dakotas. This culture was formed when corn farmers of the central plains (now
Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma) were forced by droughts to move up the river valleys northward into the Dakotas,
where they merged with the initial middle Missouri Culture already established along the river of the same name.
Today their descendants are believed to be the Arikara Indians of North Dakota. (Ref. 45 ([66]), 241 ([322]))
In the west the Fremont rock art existed at the same time along the Fremont River in Utah as the Anasazi Pueblo
Culture existed a little farther south, all of this dating from 750 to 1,200. Construction began on the Pueblo Bonita at
Chaco Canyon in New Mexico about A.D. 900. Although building materials of mud, stones and wood was the same as
those used by the Mesa Verde Indians, the architecture was markedly superior in principle as well as in technical detail
and artistry. The population appears to have been fairly consistent, running between 800 and 1,200 people. (Ref. 88
([131])) Studies of excavation sites and skeletons have revealed much about these people. One-third died in infancy;
forty years meant old age, with teeth worn to the gums from the grit that ended up in the corn meal from the metate,
jaw abscesses and arthritis. Clothes were made of hides and cotton cloth, stitched with yucca leaf fibers. Hundreds of
tons of sandstone blocks were carried varying distances for construction of the pueblos. The men spent much of their
time searching for firewood and hunting for animal food. When the hunt was poor, the remaining protein deficient diet
sapped strength and when famine did occur there may have been cannibalism. (Ref. 277 ([37]))
Snaketown, on the Gila River southeast of Phoenix, Arizona, was the capital city of the Hohokam until A.D. 1,200. In
the 10th century these people entered the Sedentary Period. Population increased, as evidenced by the more numerous
82 These
were broader and stronger than the fast, slender Viking attack ships. (Ref. 95 ([140])).
were two main settlements - Brattahlid and one farther north near the modern Godthab.
84 The "grapes" of Vinland may well have been mountain cranberries, wild currents or gooseberries and the wild "wheat" described by Eric may
have been Lyme grass. (Ref. 222 ([296])).
85 The quotation is from Braudel (Ref. 260 ([29])), page 335.
83 There
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
114
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
villages and longer canals. Specialized villages procured marine shells from the Gulf of California and worked them
into jewelry that was traded as far north as Flagstaff. (Ref. 269 ([193])) Their technique included a method of etching
designs on shells using an acid solution made from the giant cactus, saguaro. (Ref. 88 ([131]), 65 ([96]), 210 ([283]))
Harold Gladwin, in his book History of the Ancient Southwest 86 , gives the end of this century as the time of the
first serious incursion of the Athapascan tribesmen into the Pueblo areas. These were the Apaches, who had slowly
migrated down from the northern reaches of Canada, bringing their variety of the Athapascan tongue. This century
also was the time of the Pueblo II period, with still further pottery changes.
At A.D. 1,000 the Mogollon farming period was coming to an end, but in the Mimbres River area of southern New
Mexico, the pottery was decorated with very beautiful and complex triangles, scrolls and zigzag lines with life-like
decorations of animals and men inside the bowls. No one knows what happened to these people. They may have been
absorbed by others coming down from the northern plateaus. There is little question but what the modern Hopi and
Zuni Indians, later considered as part of the pueblo builders, were influenced by the Mogollons. (Ref. 210 ([283]))
In southern California the desert tradition continued until the end of the century when present day Yuma and Shoshone
Indians may have moved into the area. The Shoshone language is related to the later Aztec. (Ref. 8 ([14]))
2.24.1.2 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN
The present day concept is that the Toltecs originated as a blend of northern nomads and civilized Mexican groups
in central Mexico, but they became Mexico’s greatest militaristic power for two centuries. The Classic Period in the
northern Lowlands ended with the invasion of these Toltecs, who established themselves at Chichen Itze in Yucatan
about 1,00087 , ruling the native people, although their homeland embraced much of northern Mexico and their capital
was at Tula, about 60 miles north of present Mexico City. The Toltec style pyramid erected in Chichen Itze was
dedicated to Quetzatcoatl, whose Mayan name was Kukulcan and the old Mayan and Mexican cultures blended there.
The true Mayan civilization was gone and had given way to the Yucatec in Central America, with a major religious
and political center remaining at Chichen Itze. In the highlands there was no actual collapse of the previous culture
but even here Toltec influences began to appear. The Huastic civilization at Veracruz continued and burial chambers at
that time indicate that there were elaborate entombment ceremonies, with the deceased accompanied in the grave by
an attendant and various objects indicating considerable wealth.
An interesting side light to 10th century Mexico has been added by Jeffrey Wilkerson’s excavations (Ref. 236 ([314]))
at El Tajin in Vera Cruz, where some ten ball courts have been found. The "game" was an important religious ceremonial, using a solid rubber ball about six inches in diameter and propelled from one end of the court to the other by use
of hips and perhaps at times elbows, upper arms and knees. A player, perhaps pre-selected, and perhaps impersonating
a god, was decapitated at the conclusion of the "game". El Tajin’s rulers were named in the ancient Meso-American
fashion according to their birth date in the 260 day Sacred Round religious calendar (composed of 20 rotating day
names and 13 numerical prefixes). The chief ruler in this century, who may have been one of the last, was called 13
Rabbit and he was always represented in drawings by a rabbit on top of three dots and two bars, over his head. (See
America: 0 to A.D. 100 (Section 2.15.1.1.3: MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN), regarding
this mathematical notation). After 13 Rabbit’s time, El Tajin appears to have been destroyed, perhaps by the Totanacs
who live there now. (Ref. 88 ([131]), 176 ([242]), 155 ([214]), 45 ([66]), 236 ([314]), 205 ([276]))
Ritual human sacrifices occurred throughout the Classic Period in Central America, even in the Classic Maya Society
and the Late Post-classic Period (A.D. 900-1,400) showed this on an ever increasing scale. (Ref. 273 ([6])) The history
of the bow and arrow in this region is difficult to clarify. It appears that this weapon was introduced to the Early Postclassic Maya about A.D. 1,000 by mercenary Toltecs from the Valley of Mexico. The bow then replaced the atlatl,
86 As
quoted by Tamarin and Glubok (Ref. 210 ([283])).
ideas about the Toltecs have been mentioned on pages 427 and 451. Old Maya legends apparently confused their own history with that
of the Toltecs, whom they considered their ancestors. Stephens (Ref. 205 ([276])) quotes from Principal Epochs of the Ancient History of Yucatan,
written in the Maya language from memory by an old Indian and translated in the early 19th century by Don Pio Perez, to the effect that the Toltecs
first came to Chichen Itza in 432, stayed until 576 and then returned a second time in 936.
87 Other
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
115
which had previously been introduced by the Teotihuacanos. Actual descriptions of the use of bows and arrows by
Maya, however, did not appear until some centuries later. (Ref. 283 ([217]))
Costa Rica continued in the archeological Period V, with an increasing preference for level, fertile land suitable for
agriculture. Active trade with other parts of Central America is revealed by the discovery of such objects as alabaster
jars from Honduras and early varieties of Plumbate pottery, a ware with a metallic-type, vitrified surface made in
Guatemala or El Salvador. (Ref. 265 ([270]))
2.24.1.3 SOUTH AMERICA
By about A.D. 900 the Aymaras Indians established a culture in Bolivia (known as "upper" Peru) and this existed
for some 300 years until they were subjugated by the Incas. By the year 1,000, or even earlier, all coastal evidence
of Tiahuanacoan influence was gone. The invaders, if they were actually such, had blended with the local coastal
populations. According to radio-carbon datings, nothing of value was produced in any place about Lake Titicaca
after A.D. 1,000 and the beautiful pottery and fabrics had been replaced by motifs of Collao. Actual archeological
knowledge of the centuries just prior to the Spanish conquest, however, is very poor. Except for the presence of two
large centers - Tiahuanaco in Bolivia and Huari in Peru - actual dates and duration unknown, there is little concrete
information. (Ref. 62 ([91]))
Forward to America: A.D. 1001 to 1100 (Section 2.25)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era88
Africa (Section 1.24)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.24)
Europe (Section 4.24)
The Far East (Section 6.24)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.24)
The Near East (Section 7.24)
Pacific (Section 8.24)
2.25 America: A.D. 1001 to 110089
2.25.1 AMERICA
Back to America: A.D. 901 to 1000 (Section 2.24)
2.25.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
2.25.1.1.1 THE FAR NORTH AND CANADA
The Arctic Thule Culture of northern Canada, northwestern Alaska and western Greenland existed at least from about
A.D. 1000 to 1800. The people lived in circular houses, partially subterranean, with whalebone, turf and stone roofs
and they used dog sleds with the dogs harnessed in a fan-shape, rather than in tandem. They had Umiak and Kayak
boats and represented the final Eskimo Culture of the northern maritime tradition. (Ref. 189 ([259])) Please also see
adjacent modules.
Rose Palmer (Ref. 165 ([224])) of the Smithsonian Institute confirms the distinct physical and language characteristics
of the Northwest coastal Indians. She describes the Nootka and Kwakiutl people of Vancouver Island as having long,
distinct faces with high hooked noses. They used copper and had well built houses 40 to 60 feet square, with gable roof
88 "A.D.
89 This
901 to 1000" <http://cnx.org/content/m17719/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17794/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
116
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
s, fireplaces and doors facing the sea, along with family totems. The Haida of the Queen Charlotte Islands were also
of a unique Indian type, larger, more stalwart and of lighter complexion. The women were tall and athletic in contrast
to other typical Indian women, who tend to be short and fat. The Haida made long voyages in dug-out canoes of red
cedar, some carrying 100 persons and equipment, to as far as Vancouver Island and Puget Sound. Wood carvings
on totem poles often 50 to 60 feet high, formed part of the front of their buildings. All of the north coastal Indians
remained fairly well isolated from the remainder of the continent and other Indian tribes by virtue of the high coastal
mountain ranges which made access inland very difficult. (Ref. 95 ([140]), 165 ([224]))
Carbon- 14 dating of recent excavations of several buildings and a great hall of an old Viking settlement in northern
New Foundland, puts the date as A.D. 1060 (+70 years).
This settlement was probably founded by Leif Erickson, who also apparently went ashore on Baffin Island, calling it
"Helluland" and then on down the American coast to Labrador, which he called "Markland". "Vinland", also described
by the Norse, undoubtedly was somewhere on the North American coast, possibly Rhode Island, Massachusetts,
Labrador or Newfoundland. The latter seems most probable because of the recent excavations, but if so, its wine
industry certainly disappeared quickly. At any rate, subsequent to Leif’s visit to Vinland, Thorfinn Karlsefne settled
this new land with 60 men and 5 women, along with cattle and other animals. Although at first friendly with the
native aborigines, eventually there was war, with the Indians attacking in swarms by canoe, ultimately driving out
the newcomers. Two Indian boys were captured, however, subsequently taught Norwegian, baptized and taken to
Greenland where the colonies were thriving. The warm climatic situation of this century, which allowed an ice-free
North Atlantic Ocean, certainly was a factor in these Norse voyages. (Ref. 160 ([219]), 176 ([242]), 39 ([60]), 95
([140]), 156 ([216]))
2.25.1.1.2 THE UNITED STATES
The Mississippian and related cultures continued to exist in the mid-continent. Please see the preceding chapters. It
should be mentioned, in passing, that Barry Fell (Ref. 66 ([97])) feels that numerous artifacts which have been found
along the Mississippi and Arkansas rivers, as well as among the Algonquin and Iroquois Indians, are in fact replicas of
old Irish-Norse coins and English pennies which had been paid as Danegeld, and originally distributed along the North
American coast and rivers by additional voyages of Leif Erickson. Gloria Farley, a co-worker of Fell, has described
finding Norse runes in Oklahoma rock inscriptions, dating to about 1050. (Ref. 215 ([290]), 66 ([97]))
Southeastern Indians knew much more about metallurgy than generally realized. They made decorative and utilitarian
objects from lead and had acquired and used copper from local sources. They fashioned beads, bracelets, earrings,
ceremonial knives and axes, gorgets, and breast plates, some elaborately decorated with an eagle or hawk. This metallurgy seemed to be associated with the so-called Southeastern Ceremonial Complex, a cultural association variously
called the Eagle, Hawk, Buzzard or Southern Cult. It was associated with fire and sun worship and bird motifs. Sun
circles, bi-lobed arrows, forked eyes, hand and eye and crosses can all be found engraved on copper and shell. Before
Europeans arrived the south was not rural, as the aborigines lived in towns. Although no one is sure of the location,
there were Cofitachiqui, Mabila and Apalachee Indian centers, each of whose populations numbered in the thousands.
Some were fortified and palisaded. A pole 5O or more feet in height erected on a small mound in a ceremonial ball
game area was important in the culture. Certain death practices were similar throughout the South, in that bones of the
dead were cleaned and stored in boxes or baskets. Granaries were commonplace and any town of consequence had a
sweat house, or sauna. (Ref. 267 ([321]))
Some writers have stated than in the southwest the Hohokam way of life began to disappear as the people pulled
back to their original homeland in the desert. (Ref. 210 ([283])) More recent material indicates, however, that they
had not yet even reached their "Classical Period". (Ref. 269 ([193])) The Anasazi and/or related pueblo people,
survived at Bonito Pueblo (Chaco Canyon, New Mexico) with their new buildings showing a masonry of facing stones
carefully applied to rubble cores, a Mexican technique suggesting contact with missionaries or traders from Mexico.
This concept is disputed by some, however, when they point out that new road systems of this period appeared to
radiate out of Chaco northward, rather than to the south and that many of the Chaco artifacts, particularly marine
shells, were probably acquired by trade with other, native southwest tribes, such as the Hohokam. The inhabitants of
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
117
Chaco Canyon cut down some 50,000 trees for pueblo construction and fuel, so that the once extensive forests were
stripped, allowing erosion of the canyon. Some of the heavy logs for roofing beams may have been carried as far as
30 miles. To elaborate on the remarks above, Pueblo Bonito was reconstructed in this 11th century, with workmen
tearing out old walls and building new ones of a core-and-veneer type involving outer walls of sandstone blocks with
earth and ruble in the center. Lower walls were more than 3 feet thick, tapering as they rose, until the rear wall was
5 stories high. When finished this pueblo held 650 rooms and may have been occupied by 1200 persons. Seven other
great pueblos were also constructed, some only a few hundred yards apart, each of similar design, in one complex.
Overall there were about a dozen pueblo complexes in the Chaco Canyon with well over 2,000 rooms. At least 70
communities, similar in design but generally smaller, existed outside the canyon from a few to 100 miles away. Recent
aerial studies have indicated that the great road system, mentioned above, connected these outliers to the center. The
roads ran arrow straight, with cuts through some mounds and steps carved in cliff faces, all up to 30 feet wide. One of
the larger outlying pueblos was on the San Juan River, 40 miles north of Chaco and known now as the Salmon ruins.
Started in 1088 it was completed in 5 years and contained 300 rooms. Huge wooden beams were obtained in the La
Plata mountains, more than 75 miles away. It had a great kiva and great tower with 6 feet thick walls rising from the
second story of the town. The walls were supported by solid buttresses.
The Bonito people monitored the solar cycles with a solar observatory on Fajada Butte. Spiral patterns carved into
native rock caught shafts of light between other rocks in a precise way, which indicated the solstices and equinoxes. A
scarcity of burials at the Great Chaco complex has posed some questions and resulted in numerous theories. Was this
only a large ceremonial center serving as a mecca for pilgrims coming in on the great road system? Or was it a type
of federal city for handling the outlier’s trade and political alliances? (Ref. 277 ([37])) Near the end of the century the
pueblo dwellers increased their defenses, building watch towers, doubling wall thicknesses and restricting access to
their homes, suggesting that the Apaches were reaching this territory. (Ref. 210 ([283]))
According to ancient Indian beliefs the San Francisco Peaks90 which are surrounded by a large volcanic area in
northern Arizona, are the home of Kachina spirits. Some Indians had lived in pit-houses near those peaks since about
A.D. 600 but suddenly in A.D. 1065 there was a violent volcanic eruption, with a cone of cinders and ash thrown a
thousand feet high and a stream of lava flowed on the ground. Black ash covered 800 square miles and the terrified
Indians left. When they eventually cautiously returned they found that the ash had trapped water beneath and had
produced a very fertile area which could be farmed with very little extra moisture needed. Archeologists have given
those Indians the name "Senagua", meaning "without water". The rich soil attracted others, including Hohokam,
Mogollon and Cohonina and there was an interchange of ideas and cultures. (Ref. 210 ([283]))
The Mogollon Culture of southern New Mexico and eastern Arizona had continued through the centuries in various
stages of development. The people of that area now began to build houses in the pueblo style with buildings above
ground. They had fine, polychrome member pottery, some with red designs on brown and some with rectangular
designs with white stripes. Other pottery was black on white with complicated curvilinear and rectilinear designs.
Cotton was grown and used as cloth. (Ref. 45 ([66]))
A unique Indian culture, which was earlier considered of unknown antecedents and descendants, flourished about
950 to 1 150 in southwestern New Mexico, just east of what is now Silver City. They were called Mimbrenos, after
their river valley and were peaceful corn growers who created some of the most beautiful of American Indian pottery.
This had imaginative decorations and was all accomplished without the use of the potter’s wheel or the kiln. This
work is coveted by museums and collectors throughout the world. It is known now that these people were part of the
Mogollons. (Ref. 223 ([298]), 210 ([283]))
2.25.1.2 MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA
The Yucatec and the Toltec civilizations, which were discussed in the last chapter, were both failing by the end of this
century. According to tradition, drought and sickness took their toll among the Toltecs and their monarchy ended in
90 These
peaks are just north of Flagstaff and Williams, Arizona.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
118
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
105291 . Their land then lay devastated for a century. On the Gulf coast, the Huastec Society appeared at about this
time. (Ref. 205 ([276]))
2.25.1.3 SOUTH AMERICA
In this century the coastal societies came under the control of the Chimu (formerly Chimor), who built the great capital
of Chan Chan near the present city of Trujillo, near the sea. This was in the old Mochican area but was an entirely new
capital. From this century until the subjugation of these people by the Incas, some four centuries later, the sequence of
events is very unclear. Some of the buildings of Chan Chan are very large and may have been built in different periods.
Some believe part of the edifices was constructed by invaders from the north (even from as far away as Ecuador) in
about 1200.
Near Chan Chan the powerful Chicama River could be used, via a long canal, for irrigating a huge desert zone. (Ref.
62 ([91]))
The Diaguites, originally of the semi-arid Argentine Andes, probably existed at this time and continued to live there
until confrontation with the Spaniards some 500 years later. They have left ruins of small fortified settlements on easily
defensible crests, approached by narrow, paved roads, always located near a river or spring. Farmland was terraced
to save rain water. They made rock carvings and unusual pottery, one type of which is the "Santa Maria" urn, with a
wide neck and side handles. (Ref. 62 ([91]))
Forward to America: A.D. 1101 to 1200 (Section 2.26)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era92
Africa (Section 1.25)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.25)
Europe (Section 4.25)
The Far East (Section 6.25)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.25)
The Near East (Section 7.25)
Pacific (Section 8.25)
2.26 America: A.D. 1101 to 120093
2.26.1 AMERICA
Back to America: A.D. 1001 to 1100 (Section 2.25)
2.26.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
2.26.1.1.1 THE FAR NORTH AND CANADA
The Thule Arctic and the Northwest Indian cultures have been described in the preceding chapters. The west Greenland
settlement of Norse was prospering in this 12th century and there were at least 16 stone churches and a fine cathedral
at Gardar. Pope Paschal II appointed Erik Gnupsson as the first bishop of Greenland and Vinland in 1112. At this time
the southern half of Canada undoubtedly had a great number of Indian tribes, but information about them is scanty.
The Norse and the Indians were apparently hostile to each other. (Ref. 66 ([97]), 95 ([140])) Additional Notes (p. 120)
91 Trager
text.
(Ref. 222 ([296])) refers to the epidemic and decline as occurring in the Mayan Empire, but this is probably just another error in that
92 "A.D.
93 This
1001 to 1100" <http://cnx.org/content/m17720/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17795/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
119
2.26.1.1.2 THE UNITED STATES
In the central and southern parts of the United States the Mississippi and coalescent cultures continued as noted in
the preceding chapters. In the southwest, some- time after 1150 the Mesa Verde Anasazi constructed the famous
Cliff Palace, some 325 feet long, 100 feet deep, with many subterranean, sacred rooms and turret-like towers. In
mid-century, however, the building stopped and the population of this and the Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon, New
Mexico, began to decline and the pueblos were soon abandoned, perhaps as a result of loss of arable fields as the water
table lowered or incident to the severe deforestation mentioned in the last chapter. It has been estimated that Chaco
Canyon’s population dropped to less than 20% of its 11th century peak. (Ref. 252 ([101])) Increasing cold may have
been another factor. Only the Mesa Verde people hung on in a slightly better climate. (Ref. 277 ([37])) Other sources
believe, however, that these pueblo Indians were driven or fled as the result of invasion by barbarian Athapascans
(Apache and Navaho). In the northwestern part of Arizona at Wupatki in the sunset crater area of the Sinague, there
was a structure containing over 100 rooms, with 3 stories, as well as an open air amphitheater resembling a ceremonial
Anasazi kiva and a ball court. But the volcanic soils were now drained of their nutrients and farming was getting less
productive. (Ref. 210 ([283]))
McGuire and Schiffer (Ref. 269 ([193])) state that the Classic period of the Hohokam began about A.D. 1150, to last
for 300 years. This was characterized by adobe compounds enclosing rectangular rooms and plazas, platform mounds,
extensive irrigation canals and polychrome and polished redware ceramics. The red-on-buff pottery was distinctive of
all Hohokam sites. Hundreds of villages were scattered over the Gila and Lower Salt rivers of central Arizona. In the
past other writers have claimed that the Hohokam had begun a sharp decline by this century and that any advancements
seen were due to invasion of the area by another group, the Salado. This view has been discarded in the last 5 to 8
years. The most obvious change in the Classic period was in architecture. Multi-storied houses appeared and the canal
system was further refined, with extensive networks and some canals carried water as far as 32 kilometers. Polished
red vessels tended to replace the earlier red-on-buff pottery. Although some northern frontier villages were abandoned
at this time, the population of the Gila-Salt Basin increased to perhaps 20,000. (Ref. 269 ([193]))
2.26.1.2 MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA
Tula, the capital city of the Toltecs, was violently destroyed in the middle of this century. Although it has not been
completely excavated the indications are that it was a large city with all the principal features of Toltec art and architecture.
A new Indian civilization appears to have been in an active growth phase at this time in Aztlan94 . No one is sure of the
precise location of Aztlan, although Professor Sigberto Jimenez Morena suggests that it was an island village on the
San Pedro River delta, some 450 miles northwest of present Mexico City, now called Mexcallitan. This has been called
the Venice of Mexico because in rainy seasons the streets flood and the people move about by canoe. The adjacent
Mangrove swamps have thousands of herons, including at least 15 different species. The Aztec legends say that their
small tribe moved from Aztlan into the area of Tula, once the capital of the great Toltec Empire, and there they picked
up what they could of the Toltec civilization from its descendants. Toynbee (Ref. 220 ([294])) calls this nascent Aztec
Society the "Mexic" and in this 12th century it consisted of various small states, with Chichimec people forming petty
kingdoms along the Valley of Mexico. One site was Tenayuca. (Ref. 138 ([186]), 220 ([294]), 146 ([199]), 88 ([131]))
2.26.1.3 SOUTH AMERICA
The greatest activity of the 12th century in South America continued to be in the region of northern Peru and what is
now Ecuador. By mid-century the Chimus, in their great kingdom of Chimor, had revived the old Moche Kingdom, in
a political and geographic sense. They were great builders and extended the old Moche irrigation and road systems.
Their black pottery, however, was in contrast to the vigorous polychromatic Mochica pieces. Gold was apparently
plentiful and was used chiefly in the pure state, although sometimes alloyed with silver or copper. Fantastic, intricate
and delicate golden objects of the Chimu were found in 1937 in the area of Lambayeque, Peru, near the Ecuador
94 Aztlan
is the source of the word "Aztec" and means "people of heron place".
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
120
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
border. The population of the nation may have been 250,000 and Chan Chan, the capital, covered 3 1/2 square miles.
Ca jamarquilla and Pachacamac were additional large cities, each larger than Rome or Alexandria.
Five or six hundred miles south of the Chimu the Chincha Basin was also being rejuvenated on a large scale, with
cultivated land extending over about 12 miles on the formerly sterile sea coast terraces. Some 37,000 acres of land of
the Canete Basin were now utilized and this was accomplished by construction of lateral canals 24 to 36 miles long.
The Ica and Nazca basins remained quiet. (Ref. 62 ([91]))
According to Inca myth it was in this century that Manco Capac and his sister-wife, Mana Ocllo, left the Island of the
Sun in Lake Titicaca and went forth as son and daughter of the Sun God, Inti, to found the Inca Empire, "The Kingdom
of Gold". (Ref. 10 ([18]))
The Diaguites remained in the Argentine Andes and, although dating in inconclusive, sometime in this approximate
time-frame they practiced an advanced metallurgy, using copper ore pulverized on stone mortars and mixed with zinc,
gold and silver. This was then melted in hearths, using the wind as bellows, and finally poured into molds. Gold was
beaten into very thin sheets and used to decorate masks and jewelry by the reverse hammering technique. (Ref. 62
([91]))
Forward to America: A.D. 1201 to 1300 (Section 2.27)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era95
Africa (Section 1.26)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.26)
Europe (Section 4.26)
The Far East (Section 6.26)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.26)
The Near East (Section 7.26)
Pacific (Section 8.26)
NOTE :
Some 300 farms had been established in Greenland by this century. (Ref. 301 ([258]))
2.27 America: A.D. 1201 to 130096
2.27.1 AMERICA
Back to America: A.D. 1101 to 1200 (Section 2.26)
2.27.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
2.27.1.1.1 THE FAR NORTH AND CANADA
Runic inscriptions left by Norse explorers about A.D. 1300 have been found near Upernavik far up in Baffin Bay on
the western Greenland coast. In addition, recent excavations in an old Thule Arctic Culture settlement still farther
north, beyond the tip of Greenland on the Canadian Island of Skraeling, have revealed links of chain-mail, iron boat
rivets, parts of barrel bottoms, pieces of oak (not native to that part of Canada) and European-style knife blades and
spear points. All of this would indicate that the Viking Norse explored much farther north in America than previously
believed, although at the moment one cannot say with certainty that these Norse artifacts were not carried north by
Thule contacts made farther south. (Ref. 189 ([259]))
95 "A.D.
96 This
1101 to 1200" <http://cnx.org/content/m17721/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17796/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
121
The southern Greenland settlements were still very much Catholic and a crisis arose because of the absence of grain
for bread and grapes for the sacraments. The local parish asked Rome for permission to substitute meat and beer, but
Pope Gregorius personally insisted that at least bread be used. (Ref. 138 ([186]))
No special information concerning the Inuit of the far northern climes and the Indian populations of central and western
Canada during this 13th century has been located, and we assume that life continued in much the same fashion as noted
in previous modules.
2.27.1.1.2 THE UNITED STATES
The Missouri River Valley Indians continued to farm in the Dakotas and the Mississippian Culture persevered with
great ceremonial centers at Cahokia, Moundville and Etowah. The latter was a large site in Georgia, dating from 1200
to 1700, which was a fortified farming village with three temple mounds and carved stone figures of men, some of
which were 15 to 30 feet in height. The figures were portrayed in the sitting position, suggesting a Mexican influence.
The largest of the mounds there was 70 feet high with 380 square feet of base and probably containing 4,000,000 cubic
feet of earth. (Ref. 215 ([290]), 45 ([66]))
The Mesa Verda cliff dwellers began construction of a great masonry temple, sun oriented and containing kivas three
walls thick. Recently, excavations in the Montezuma Valley near Cortez, Colorado, have indicated tremendous pueblo
type buildings and kivas on level ground. Dr. Arthur Rohn has identified 103 kivas at Yellowjacket and more than
80 at Mud Springs. It may be that the real center of the Mesa Verde culture was not on the mesa, but in this valley
where conditions were better for agriculture. All of these complexes reached their peaks in this 13th century, but by
1300 the entire region was abandoned for good. Some of the Anasazi moved south to confront the Mogollons in the
mountains, some simply went north and joined their relatives who were the ancestors of present day Hopis and some
went eastward across the continental divide to the Rio Grande, where they developed the final phase of their culture
from south of Albuquerque to Taos - the modern Pueblo Indians. The movement included the Sinaguas, who went to
the Verde River Valley and built clusters of masonry houses along the cliff sides of the high mesas, there. The reasons
for the rather sudden dispersion of these people are still a mystery. Tree ring studies indicate severe drought between
1260 and 1300 and it is possible that crops withered and the inhabitants had to move to eat. Farther to the southwest
most authorities would agree that the Hohokam Classic period continued deep in the Arizona desert, building up to a
peak of activity in the next century. (Ref. 210 ([283]), 215 ([290]), 64 ([94]), 277 ([37]))
2.27.1.2 MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA
Chichen Itza on the Yucatan peninsula was abandoned by the Toltecs sometime before 1224 but a sparse native population remained. Constant local wars of the next three centuries destroyed 4,000 years of civilization in this land. In
north Mexico, the Aztecs were one of the Nahua tribes of the Anahuac Valley, apparently having moved inland from
their probable origin in the San Pedro River delta, and for centuries there were petty tribal wars in this area also, with
sometimes one tribe prevailing and sometimes another. The Aztecs were not yet in power and they came south as
refugees, picking up remnants of the Toltec civilization. The Aztec authority, Professor Miguel Leon-Portilla writes97
that the only thing they brought with them was an indomitable will. (Ref. 88 ([131]), 176 ([242]), 138 ([186]))
In Central America, proper, there was no quantum jump in cultural achievement in these pre-Columbian centuries.
The archaeological Period VI continued in Costa Rica with the zenith reached in the lost-wax method of casting gold
and tumbaga (a gold-copper alloy) pendants, particularly in the southern Diquis area. Similar cultures continued in
Panama and other adjacent regions. In none of these countries did a State-centered society develop. (Ref. 265 ([270]),
266 ([67]))
2.27.1.3 SOUTH AMERICA
Legend has it that there were small Inca tribe chiefdoms in a remote upper Andean valley in this 13th century, but
nothing is really known for certain about their origin.
97 As
quoted by MacDowell (Ref. 138 ([186]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
122
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
Chan Chan (300 miles northwest of Lima) was the capital of the Chimu people and at this time it had 50,000 inhabitants
and covered an area of 9 square miles, with a strictly rectangular layout. A canal system, including one over 50 miles
long, supplied the city with water. The city has been well preserved because of the sand which later covered it and
the lack of rain. The Andes were just now coming out of the past into modern times and their great irrigation systems
played a key role. (Ref. 62 ([91]), 176 ([242]))
Araucanian and Diaguite communities continued in the south Andes and some of the latter people migrated from
the eastern to the Pacific slopes, perhaps coming under some influence of a Peruvian successor society to the Nazca
political system called the Ika- Chincha chiefdom. The western Diaguites had a stratified society dominated by a
warrior class and their decorations showed men wearing feather head-dresses and carrying spear throwers and long
spears. (Ref. 176 ([242]))
Forward to America: A.D. 1301 to 1400 (Section 2.28)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era98
Africa (Section 1.27)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.27)
Europe (Section 4.27)
The Far East (Section 6.27)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.27)
The Near East (Section 7.27)
Pacific (Section 8.27)
2.28 America: A.D. 1301 to 140099
2.28.1 AMERICA
Back to America: A.D. 1201 to 1300 (Section 2.27)
2.28.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
2.28.1.1.1 THE FAR NORTH AND CANADA
The Thule Inuit were exceptional arctic hunters, using a variety of harpoon heads of different shapes and sizes, depending upon the immediate game available. The harpoon heads were very similar to those found in the Bering Strait
area, suggesting a direct connection. (Please also see adjacent modules).
By this time the Norsemen on the southwest coast of Greenland had founded some 280 farms, 2 Episcopal residences,
some monasteries and 17 churches, maintaining contacts with Iceland by open boats and being taxed by the Vatican in
Rome. It is of interest that the route from Norway or Great Britain, via the Shetlands, Faeroes, Iceland, Greenland and
Baffin Island to Labrador and continental America has no ocean gap wider than the length of Lake Michigan. (Ref.
189 ([259]), 95 ([140])) In 1362 the Norwegian king, Magnus Ericson, sent an expedition west to look for some of
his people of a previous voyage who had failed to reach their Greenland destination. It is possible that the would-be
rescuers entered what would later be Hudson’s Bay100 .
Regarding the Canadian Indians, please see previous modules.
98 "A.D.
1201 to 1300" <http://cnx.org/content/m17723/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17797/1.2/>.
100 This statement is taken from Trager (Ref. 222 ([296])), but as with all of his items, no reference is made as to the source of the information
99 This
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
123
2.28.1.1.2 THE UNITED STATES
There is an ancient church at Newport, Rhode Island, which Professor Fell (Ref. 66 ([97])) says was built in this
14th century by Norsemen. He quotes the writings of an Italian explorer, Giovanni de Verrazana, who sailed in 1524
northward from Florida to Labrador to the effect that while sailing along the Narragansett coast he was astonished
to see a tall, stone-built "Norman villa". On going ashore he found friendly, civilized Indians, some with fair skins,
but they could remember nothing of how the stone structure had been built. This "Norma villa" was undoubtedly
the Round Tower of Newport, in which some claim that Norse runes have been inscribed. Others deny entirely the
antiquity of this building.
There is little accurate history of the North American Indians at this time but probably the tribal differentiation had
about reached the point which was to be glimpsed by the Europeans in the last of the next century. Recent excavations
at the ancient village of Crow Creek in South Dakota have revealed some 500 skeletons of men, women and children
of the Coalescent Culture, apparently massacred by other Indians. The lack of females in the 12 to 19 year old
bracket and the absence of very young children probably indicates that this group was taken captive. The skeletons
showed evidence of multiple diseases and injuries, with a total of some 1137 incidents of abnormality identified. Bone
cancer was virtually non-existent and arthritis was rare, but the bones did show evidence of infection, vitamin and
protein deficiencies. No one knows why this massacre occurred among these usually placid, farmer peoples nor why
their culture seemed to disappear entirely about A.D. 1400. Perhaps occasional or chronic malnutrition was a factor;
perhaps the Missouri flood plain and terraces became over-populated; or perhaps an extended drought could have
tipped the balance. (Ref. 79 ([119]))
Recent research regarding a Mississippian Culture group called the "Dallas Society" of eastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia has yielded much information about the life-styles of southeastern Indians of this and the next century.
Three types of villages have been found, the largest probably originally containing 1,000 or more people, were located
at key locations in the Tennessee River drainage and had multiple earthen mounds, fortifications and wattle-anddaub single room houses. The flat-topped earthen mounds served as substructures for civic or religious buildings.
Intermediate-sized villages and small hamlets were located near fertile alluvial soils necessary for cultivation of corn,
beans, squash and sunflowers. This agricultural diet was supplemented by deer and fish and wild plant foods, chiefly
various nuts. (Ref. 284 ([130]))
Excavations on Key Marco on the Gulf coast of Florida indicate that Indians living there between A.D. 1000 and 1500
lived in thatch houses built on stilts and used spear-throwers and swords armed with sharks’ teeth. They lived by
hunting, fishing and gathering of shell-fish. They had some elaborate, wooden sculptures, which included animals,
heads of deer, birds, etc. along with rush and bark matting, basketry and untempered pottery. (Ref. 45 ([66]))
In the southwest United States, the Hohokam people built their most enduring monument, the four-story Casa Grande
on the Gila River, about A.D. 1350. This was probably an elite residence, perhaps a storehouse and observatory. There
were observation holes which could be used to identify the summer and winter solstices. It seems likely that their
society had become very stratified, with high chiefs and lowly peasants. (Ref. 269 ([193])) The transplanted Anasazi
flourished in their new area in central New Mexico. By A.D. 1330 Arroyo Hondo Pueblo near Sante Fe had 1,500
people and similar pueblos developed all along the Rio Grande. (Ref. 277 ([37])) Rooms, one on top of the other up to
three stories, were carved into the cliff, and then other rooms of mud mortar and stone were built in front of these. The
roof beams were supported by sockets carved into the cliff. Rock art and painted murals were common. An ingenious
method of maintaining moisture in the field involved the spreading of gravel to reduce evaporation. Thousands of acres
were so treated and these fields produce lusher plant growth even today. Agricultural products were augmented by the
raising of turkeys and trading with eastern tribes brought buffalo meat. (Ref. 277 ([37])) The original pueblo people,
however, from this time on were pretty well replaced by descendants of the invading Athapascan-speaking tribes such
as the Apache, San Carlos, Tonto, Mescalero and the Navajo. (Ref. 88 ([131]), 45 ([66]), 210 ([283]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
124
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
2.28.1.2 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN
In this 14th century the Gulf coast of Mexico was occupied by the Totanac people while inland, the Aztecs, a branch
of the Nuhua, reached the shores of Lake Texcoco in 1325 and built an impregnable capital in the marshes of the lake
and on an island, within the next ten years. This capital city, Tenochtitlan, soon had more than 150,000 people and was
laid out on a grid plan covering more than 4.6 miles, much of this being reclaimed swamp land. Canals reached all
parts of the city and five causeways linked it to the main- land. This area is now a part of Mexico City. Of incidental
interest is the fact that these Indians raised a special hairless breed of dog, a larger ancestor of the Chihuahua, for food.
The Aztec medical profession had an hereditary character and healers were divided into specialties, such as the "tictl",
who used magic and some anatomical knowledge and the properties of plants and minerals. Others were teeth pullers,
bone setters, etc. At Mayapan in the Yucatan there was somewhat of a Maya renaissance, founded by colonists from
Chichen Itza. (Ref. 138 ([186]), 125 ([173]), 45 ([66]))
Up to this time in this outline, we have had little or nothing to say about the Caribbean, when discussing Middle
America. This is not to say that there were no people living on those islands, but simply that specific information
has been meagre. It has been established, however, that Taino Indians, with ancestors in South America, were now
spreading from Haiti out over Cuba, Jamaica and the Bahamas. These Arawak-speaking people pushed back or
enslaved a more primitive tribe, the Siboney. They grew corn and yams, made cassava bread from yucca, spun and
wove cotton and made ornamented, fine, brown pottery. Artificial flattening of infants’ heads produced low foreheads
in the adults. They used honey for sweetening and smoked cigars through their noses. The more southern islands,
including Porto Rico, were inhabited by the cannibalistic Caribs. (Ref. 213 ([288]))
2.28.1.3 SOUTH AMERICA
The Cuculis and Puerto Viejos, who lived along the lowlands of coastal Peru in this and the next century, used an
ancient technique of digging wells that slowly filled over a 24 hour period, so that at the end of each day, a small sluice
could be opened to let water into a network of canals leading into a man’s garden. People of a hundred villages lived
in this way in an area where today one cannot even find a lizard. Although the pottery of these people was poor, they
had rich fabrics and some metal devices, including beam scales. Two Puerto Viejo villages have been unearthed, one
at the southern tip of Chica, where the mountains enter the ocean and cut off the beach. The inhabitants had returned
to the use of part underground houses, not previously used in this region for 3,000 years, although such structures had
been found among the Diaguites on the Argentine slopes of the Andes. The Puerto Viejo built temples and palaces,
too. One of these had a base of some 3,600 square yards and was built on a cliff. Some 3,000 acres of land were used
for agriculture, chiefly for corn. (Ref. 62 ([91]))
Legends state that the Incas already had a flourishing capital at Cuzco in this century, but certainly it could not compare
with the great urban site of Chan Chan, capital of the Chimu Empire existing on the desert north coast, in this and
adjacent centuries. No one knows exactly when Chan Chan was built on the threshold of the modern city of Trujillo.
The Chimus dominated some 12 coastal valleys and a territory of some 125,000 arable acres. They apparently did
not impose their rule beyond the boundaries of the Sechura Desert in the north. The use of supplementary and more
stable water resources may have been the factor that favored the setting up of this kingdom, as the area is actually an
oasis, extended by irrigation canals. Early Chimu art depicted many bird-men with long, hooked beaks. As on Easter
Island, these men were frequently depicted navigating reed vessels. Except that the Chimu were urban dwellers with
highly organized military and social systems, little was reported about them until very recently. A possible clue as to
the origin of these people is in the report of Father Miguel Cabello de Balboa who interviewed Peruvians in the 16th
century. The natives said that in "ancient times" a large group of families left the place of the Mochicas with a great
fleet of "Balsas" (rafts) and sailed north to establish the Chimu Dynasty and culture. (Ref. 62 ([91]), 88 ([131]), 95
([140]))
Forward to America: A.D. 1401 to 1500 (Section 2.29)
Choose Different Region
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
125
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era101
Africa (Section 1.28)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.28)
Europe (Section 4.28)
The Far East (Section 6.28)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.28)
The Near East (Section 7.28)
Pacific (Section 8.28)
2.29 America: A.D. 1401 to 1500102
2.29.1 AMERICA
Back to America: A.D. 1301 to 1400 (Section 2.28)
2.29.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
2.29.1.1.1 CANADA AND THE FAR NORTH
The last recorded voyage from Iceland to Greenland was in 1410. The worsening climate had reduced productivity of
Greenland livestock and there was increasing navigational hazards from drift ice. Nevertheless, in 1432 a treaty had
been reached between the Norwegian and English kings in an effort to stop English pirates from roving the Davis Strait
and a papal letter of 1448 condemned these English pirates. All Greenland settlements were apparently abandoned by
about 1500.
In the arctic there were Thule Eskimos and Aleuts and in the subarctic regions there were many Indian tribes, including
Kutchin, Kaska, Chipewyan and Cree. There seems no doubt that the Thule people, previously described as inhabiting
northern Canada and Greenland from at least A.D. 1000 onward, were the direct ancestors of todays Polar Eskimos,
who live on Greenland’s northwest coast. The Thule, like the Dorset before them, were artists of ivory carving, both
for implements and decorative pendants. Although they apparently originally had pottery when they lived primarily in
Alaska, their northeastern Canadian areas had a scarcity of clay and firewood, so they carved vessels out of soapstone
for seal-blubber lamps, over which they boiled their meat or fish. At the end of this century large scale fishing
enterprises began on the Newfoundland banks, where the warm waters of the Gulf Stream meet the colder arctic
currents and the cod survive in amazing numbers. Basques, French, Dutch and English all scuffled for dominance,
with the Spanish Basques finally being driven out. (Ref. 260 ([29])) In 1497 Giovanni Cabato, a Genoese sailing
under the British Union Jack and the anglicized name of John Cabot re-discovered Newfoundland and Nova Scotia
for England. Three years later Corte-Real of Portugal explored the coast of Labrador. (Ref. 222 ([296])) On the
Canadian Pacific coast there were the Tlingit tribes and on the Great Plains were Blackfoot, Ojibwa, Ottawa, Huron
and Micmac. The United States Apache are related to the Canadian Athapascan tribes, some of whom migrated to
reach the southwest (Arizona) in this 15th century. By the 1490s there were about 200,000 Indians spread over much
of Canada. (Ref. 8 ([14]), 189 ([259]), 93 ([137]))
2.29.1.1.2 THE UNITED STATES
To supplement the remarks made in the paragraph above, in North America as a whole there were, in this century,
about 1,000,000 Indians, with about 500 different languages. In northeastern United States there were Pottowatomie,
Susquehannock, Iroquois, Erie, Miami, Illinois and Shawnee. In the southeast were Chickasaw, Cherokee, Creek,
Chocktaw, Natchez and others. In the far west were the Nes Perce, the California tribes of Pima, Yokuts, Chumash,
101 "A.D.
102 This
1301 to 1400" <http://cnx.org/content/m17724/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17798/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
126
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
Cochimi and then inland the Shoshone, Utes, Apache and in the central plains the Sioux, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Wichita,
Comanche and many others. (Ref. 206 ([83]), 8 ([14]))
Regarding the Indians of the Great Plains, the Huff archeological site, some 20 miles south of Bismarck, N.D., shows
a remarkable village built by the ancestors of the Mandan tribe and occupied from 1400 to 1600. House lodges still
number more than 100 and the Missouri River has been cutting away an untold number by eroding the bluff on which
the houses rest. These structures averaged 38 feet by 30 feet, supported by central posts. The walls were of wattle and
daubb and the roofs perhaps of sod. There is evidence of both horticulture and bison hunting. (Ref. 88 ([131]))
The Mississippian Culture, which has been discussed in previous chapters, reached its climax about A.D. 1500, with
the unique southern cult which included pyramids grouped around a central square or plaza with a wood, wattle and
daub and thatch temple on its summit. These had a strong suggestion of influence from Mesoamerica. One of the most
notable temple sites was Cahokia, at St. Louis, where groupings of pyramids and burial mounds cover several square
miles. The largest is 104 feet high and covers 16 acres.
Bizarre articles of copper, shell, stone, wood and clay in some mounds in the south show a preoccupation with violence
and death. Apparently southern Indians had kept captive slaves for centuries. For example: when the Whites arrived in
the next century, the Lower Creeks had Yamasee slaves. The standard beverage in Mississippian times was the "black
drink", usually made from parched leaves of the yaupon, a type of holly. (Ref. 88 ([131]), 267 ([321]))
In the southwest something happened to the Hohokams about A.D. 1450 and their climb toward civilization rather
abruptly ceased and their society collapsed, cause unknown. Their descendants are probably the unassuming Pima,
living in modest pithouse villages, much like their ancestors did a thousand years before. (Ref. 269 ([193])) Pueblo
Indians remained scattered across the southwest, but chiefly in the Albuquerque, Sante Fe, Taos area. Kiva walls in
the great 1,000 room complex at Kuaua, north of Albuquerque, had 85 coats of plaster, with paintings of spirit dancers
invoking rain and other blessings. (Ref. 277 ([37]))
Designs similar to, but smaller than the famous giant, ground drawings near Nazca, Peru, have been found near Blythe,
California overlooking the Colorado River. These are judged to date to this 15th century, are of human and animal
forms and have been extensively photographed by archeologist Jay von Werlhof and photographer Harry Casey over a
several year period. One 75 foot tall, human effigy resembles the broad-shouldered figures of Navaho sand paintings.
Another human caricature is 170 feet high and may represent Ha-ak, a mythical creature, who ate children. (Ref. 290
([42]))
2.29.1.2 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN
A number of city-states had arisen as heirs of the Mexican Toltec priest-state, including the Totonac, Mixtec, Zapotec,
Maya and then the Circun-Caribbean groups. One of these, Tenochtitlan, along with two lessor cities gained military
predominance and held a loose power over most of central Mexico. After A.D. 1431, under the chieftains Itzcoatl and
Moctzuma I, the Aztecs of Tenochtitlan mastered the other tribes of the valley and then crossed the mountains and
dominated southern Mexico, as well. These Aztecs attained a high degree of development in engineering, architecture,
art, mathematics and astronomy, whether through their own endeavors completely or through adoption of culture from
pre-existing societies. Picture writing, rapidly approaching phonetics, was developed and agriculture, gold and silver
workings, pottery and textiles were advanced. Moctezuma I and Nezahualcoyotl, king of Texcoco, an allied city-state,
built a 9 mile long dam in Lake Texcoco, to separate salt water from fresh. Aztec aquaculture harvested spirolina,
a high protein algae, carried as rations by warriors. It is still exported to Japan as a condiment, in the amount of
700 tons a year. The Aztec language was Nahuatl and 1,200,000 Mexicans still speak it today. Such world words as
"chocolate", "tomato", "tamale" and "chili" have come directly from this source. (Ref. 138 ([186]))
It is well known that the Aztecs used human sacrifices as a part of their religious activities, in the form of ceremonial
cannibalism. Tenochtitlan priests ripped open chests of living victims with flint knives, tore out still beating hearts
and ate them. The heads were hung on racks (perhaps the brains were eaten also) and the remainders of the bodies
were tumbled down the steep-sided temple steps for the populace to eat. At times one thigh was given to the Supreme
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
127
Council and other choice cuts to other nobles and then the remainders given to the victim’s captor, who took it home
and had it cooked into a maize and man stew, to be eaten by all the family. (Ref. 211 ([284])) A subsidiary nation,
Tlaxcalan, may have been preserved simply as a "stockyard" to supply human meat for Aztec raiders103 . One possible
explanation for the cannibalism, according to Michail Harner104 , is that human flesh was the only source of some
essential amino-acids needed by man. He explains that there were few or no domesticable herbivores in pre-Columbian
Mexico and the poor could neither import game nor get the needed combinations of amino acids in their limited diets,
so that cannibalism became their salvation. This is not accepted by the majority of Aztec specialists. (Ref. 273 ([6]))
Some have estimated that 250,000 people were sacrificed each year (Ref. 129 ([179])), although other authorities say
that on the eve of the Spanish conquest, there were only about 50,000 human victims a year. (Ref. 8 ([14])) Still
another estimate has been given by Bart McDowell (Ref. 138 ([186])), who wrote that after the great Tenochtitlan
was dedicated in 1487 between 10,600 and 70,400, depending on the source, were sacrificed with the ritual killings
continuing without pause from sun-up to sun-down, four at a time, for four days. At least on some occasions, once
captives were killed their bodies were flayed and the skin worn by priests for 20 days. Multiple pictures drawn by
Aztec artists, under Spanish supervision, show these skin enrobed priests. (Ref. 273 ([6]))
Mexican writers tend to indicate that the cannibalism was entirely a religious rite, re-enacting a mythical battle between
the God Huitzilopochtli and his sorceress sister, Coyalxauhqui, whom he dismembered. (Ref. 148 ([201])) Anawalt
(Ref. 273 ([6])) writes that as children of the sun the Aztecs felt a heavy responsibility to keep the sun (representing
Hiutzilopochtli in his daily battle) strong, by giving it the most sacred of all foods - human blood. The most common
blood offerings were from auto-sacrifice from every man, woman and child, from ear lobes, tongues, extremities, chest
or genitals. Human sacrifice, however, was the most holy rite and took place on one or more days of each of the 18
months in the Aztec year. Most of these were captives or specially selected and prepared individuals.
The Aztecs did not have the wheel, but they had an intensive agriculture and probably some 12,000,000 peasants
were expected to grow a surplus of some 20,000 tons of food for the city and its trading network. They had inherited
techniques for quarrying and moving large blocks of stone, as manifested in their so-called calendar stone, a basalt
disk 3.6 meters in diameter, 72 centimeters thick and weighing 24 metric tons. It was quarried with stone hammers
and chisels, with wooden wedges inserted into cleavage planes. (Ref. 8 ([14]), 149 ([202]))
On the Goodman-Martinez-Thompson correlation dating system used by the National Geographic Society, the Aztecs
did not turn on their previous superiors, the Tepehecs, until 1428 and then by 1519 had a tribute empire that covered
most of central Mexico and stretched as far as Guatemala. The other dating correlation system is the "Spinden", which
makes all Central American dates about 260 years earlier. The problem is not with relative dates in the American
scene, which are consistent by the old Mayan calendars, but with relating these to the Christian calendar. A discovery
in Vera Cruz in 1972 seems to confirm the former method to be the most accurate. A map will be found under this
same section in the next chapter, showing the progression of the Aztec state and its relationship to other Central and
South American empires.
The exact population of Mexico before the arrival of the Spaniards is, of course, unknown. Some have given well
thought-out estimates as high as 25,000,000. But, as Braudel (Ref. 260 ([29])) has pointed out, the Indian population
of this 15th century suffered a demographic weakness because of the absence of substitute animal milk, a feature
which necessitated breast feeding for 3 or 4 years, thus reducing the fertility. This was a factor in the failure of rapid
revival of the Indian population after the devastating onslaught of the diseases and firearms of the Spaniards. Outside
the Aztec area, Yucatan and the Mayan area of Guatemala were politically divided between petty, rival states. Yucatan
continued to remain separate from Mexico until the time of the Mexican revolution.
No reader needs to be reminded that Christopher Columbus reached the Caribbean in 1492, claiming territory for his
backer, the Spanish monarchy. All may not know, however, that he had previously sailed far down the coast of Africa
and to Iceland and beyond in the north Atlantic, in earlier days. He certainly knew of the presence of Greenland
and contrary to some reports, there never was any question about the earth being flat among the sailors of that time.
103 Anawalt
104 As
(Ref. 273 ([6])) says there is no proof of this concept. The vassal provinces did pay tribute, but probably not in humans for sacrifice.
noted by James K. Page, Jr. in "Smithsonian" 8: 24-28, June, 1977. He referred to Harner’s remarks in "Natural History", Vol. 86, No. 4.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
128
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
The navigation problem originated, at least in part, from the fact that scientists of the day had accepted Marco Polo’s
location of Japan as being 1,500 miles off the China coast. This, added to Columbus’ adoption of a markedly wrong
diameter of the earth, resulted in his assurances throughout his western voyages that he had reached the Indies and
was very near China and Japan. On each of his western trips, Columbus rode the Canary Current and the prevailing
Atlantic trade-winds. (Ref. 260 ([29])) On the first, he required 36 days from the Canary Islands to his Caribbean
landfall. It is of interest that Curtis and Kathleen Saville made essentially the same trip in a rowboat in 1981 in 50
days. The return trip to Europe, however, cannot be made without going first north with the Gulf Stream, or with
power. (Ref. 150 ([205]), 188 ([257]))
Columbus’ misconception regarding the land he found is worth a little more detail. There are 360 degrees of longitude
in the circumference of the earth and we know today that each degree is very close to 60 nautical miles, thus making
the perimeter of the globe some 21,600 nautical miles. Erothenes, many centuries before Columbus, had estimated
a degree of longitude at 59.5 miles, but Columbus accepted the calculations of a Moslem geographer, Alfragan, who
postulated this figure at 56.667 Arabic miles. Columbus further misinterpreted this as the equivalent of 45 western,
nautical miles thus making an error of 25%. This, plus his erroneous placement of Japan from the writings of Marco
Polo, resulted in great confusion. The Canary Islands are on the same latitude as the southern tip of Japan and that was
his reason for leaving from that point. He was unaware, apparently, that it was the Canary Current at that latitude that
really allowed him to make the crossing. The true air-line miles from the Canaries to Japan number about 10,600, but
Columbus’ calculations were that it should be only 2,400. (Ref. 150 ([205]))
At any rate, the Genoese Columbus, whose Spanish name was Don Cristobal Colon, took off on his first cross-Atlantic
voyage with the famous Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria vessels, leaving Spain for the Canaries on August 3, 1492. Rough
water had made him take 6 days between Spain and those islands, where the warlike Guanches were only partially
conquered but were gradually being reduced to slavery. We know something about his ships. The Nina, about 60
tons105 probably had a 6 feet draught, an overall length of 70 feet, a 23 feet beam and a hold depth amidships of about
9 feet. It was square rigged with a lanteen sail on the mizzen and was provisioned for a year. For the seamen, the
chief foods were wine, olive oil and bread in the form of sea biscuits or hard tack. They had some fish, salted meat,
legumes and garlic. They sailed by dead reckoning, which means estimating the speed of the ship and then calculating
the-distance travelled. Columbus repeatedly tried some celestial navigation but he made bad errors and actually relied
almost completely on dead reckoning, at which we was apparently a master. One could not really tell longitude at that
time, because there was no reliable maritime clock. The compass was the only fairly dependable instrument and even
its variations from the pole star tended to be confusing. Nevertheless, the first crossing was not difficult, running on
the trade winds and with the Canary Current, with the best day’s run being 174 nautical miles. Columbus landed on
the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas. (Ref. 150 ([205]))
The adventurers immediately encountered Taino Indians, speakers of what was later to be identified as an Arawak
language. They used dugout boats, some carrying 40 to 45 men and they used hammocks for sleeping, a trick soon
adopted by the Spanish seamen. Deeper on the island many of the Taino were kept captive for eating purposes by the
cannibalistic Caribs. Taino boys were castrated and the girls were kept to raise babies, which the Caribs thought to
be particularly tasty. (Ref. 150 ([205])) The Indians went essentially naked, wearing a few trinkets of gold leaf. The
latter, of course, greatly excited the Europeans and they sailed through the Bahamas to Hispaniola (Haiti) in pursuit
of gold, as well as Japan and the Grand Khan of China. They decided Cuba was the Asiatic mainland and it was there
that the Santa Maria went aground. By this time friction had developed among the ships’ captains and Columbus and
the skipper of the Pinta sailed her away, leaving Columbus with the Nina and the grounded Santa Maria. A fort was
built on Cape Haitian Harbor and 39 men were left there while the Admiral and the Nina sailed on January 16, 1493
for Spain, going first north and then east. Again Columbus’ attempts at celestial navigation were somewhat ludicrous,
but with luck and dead reckoning he hit the Azores and finally, after some trouble with the Portuguese there, he went
on to Lisbon in a storm. All thought that they had found Asiatic islands. (Ref. 150 ([205]), 222 ([296]))
105 In this instance the word "ton" as applied to the size of a ship has been taken from the Castilian tonelada and the Portuguese tonel, meaning a
tun of wine, which is a large cask equivalent in volume to 2 pipes (hogsheads) or roughly equal to 40 cubic feet. This later became a unit of capacity
for English vessels and has nothing to do with weight. (Ref. 150 ([205])).
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
129
The follow-up to the discovery voyage of Columbus is not so well known. Queen Isabella sent him back to the Indies
in September of 1493, with 1,500 men in a fleet of 17 ships, with the declared prime object of conversion of the
Indians to Christianity and a second object of establishing a trading colony, with Columbus as governor. The ships
sailed through the smaller leeward islands to Porto Rico and finally to Haiti, where it was found that the men left there
on the previous voyage were dead. The first battle with Indians took place on St. Croix Island on November 13th.
Columbus was able to take some of these vicious, cannibalistic Caribs as prisoners and made them slaves. Then he
explored southern Cuba, which he thought was part of China, and/or islands of Malay and then he went on to Jamaica.
On this voyage he established another colony on Haiti, but his men, who had no women on their ships from Spain,
raped, robbed and enslaved the Indians. Fray Buil, who had been sent as the Christian priest, participated in the Indian
enslavement and Columbus, himself, eventually returned with some 500 Indians for the slave markets of Seville, when
he got home again in the spring of 1496. Colonists who were left in the Caribbean built the city of Santo Domingo in
1496 or 1497, as the first American urban community. (Ref. 150 ([205]), 222 ([296])) It has been estimated that the
total population of Hispaniola (Haiti) in 1496 was 4,000,000, chiefly Indians, of course. (Ref. 267 ([321]))
Since the Spanish royalty was not too happy with the paucity of gold and silver brought back from the New World
after 2 trips, Columbus had real difficulty in arranging his third. Finally in 1498 he sailed again, to land in Trinidad
and Venezuela on the South American coast. Another fleet supposedly went directly to provision the colony on Santa
Domingo. In Venezuela the men did find guanin or tumbaga, an alloy of gold, silver and copper, with the amount
of gold varying from 9 to 89% and the copper from 11 to 74%. They also found more cannibalistic Caribs and big
fighting-canoes, with cabins amidships, which may have been factors in making the Spaniards just miss an area of great
pearl fisheries. Returning to Santo Domingo, Columbus found 160 of the European colony (20 to 30% of the total)
ill with syphilis. The natives had been shamefully exploited, the provision fleet hadn’t arrived and some mutineers
had been hanged. Francisco de Bobadilla, who had been sent to the island by the Spanish monarchs as Chief Justice,
blamed Columbus for the various problems, arrested him and had him returned to Spain in chains. The year was 1500.
This section would not be complete without further comment concerning the much debated question of the origin of
syphilis. Morison (Ref. 150 ([205])) states that there is abundant evidence of syphilis occurring in a mild, endemic
form in the pre-Columbian American Indians, but it was not until after the arrival of Columbus’ sailors that the disease
became rampant on both continents. For whatever reason, the interaction of the European men and the Indians made
the disease violent on both sides of the Atlantic.
2.29.1.3 SOUTH AMERICA (See map in the next module)
2.29.1.3.1 NORTHERN AND WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA
There were many different Indian peoples in this part of South America. Of the Andean groups the great Inca Empire
was dominant, but there were also the northern Caribs, Caraja, Mundurcu and the Savana-Orinoco group, among
others. Sometime in the era just before the dominance of the Incas, the Chimu kingdom deteriorated markedly, perhaps
because their farmland had been over-irrigated and insufficiently drained and had become salinized. The lowlands of
coastal Peru were, and are, saturated with salt and to be useful the land must be excellently drained and well flushed.
Deforestation also resulted in a dessication so that the underground rivers, so important for the low lying savannahs,
began to disappear. Today the ruins of Chan cover an area of 14 square miles, with 10 surviving walled compounds
(fortresses) forming the heart of the city.
The Peruvian Incas subdued the coastal Chimu civilization early in the century, although as we have seen, it may
already have been in decline. It was in the reigns of the 8th emperor, Viracocha, and his son Pachuciti and grandson
Topa that the Incas expanded out of their original Cuzco region and soon had an empire 200 by 2,000 miles in area
with a population of perhaps 10,000,000. Engel (Ref. 62 ([91])) writes that only when Prince Pachacuti mounted the
throne in A.D. 1438, does tradition become reliable and concomitant with provable fact. Everything prior to that is
summed up in a bunch of names that may have very little true value. It is probable that in the time of Viracocha, the
so-called empire was still restricted to the narrow Cuzco Valley, in an area of a few thousand acres, surrounded by
hostile neighbors. The sudden blossoming and conquering of territory then matches that of Alexander the Great or of
the great, ancient Persian kings. The word "Inca" does not imply a race; it belongs only to a dynasty and the system
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
130
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
that dynasty imposed on a number of South American peoples. The entire imperial expansion lasted only 100 years,
but due to the deportation of conquered peoples and the planting of garrisons, the Incas made their Quechua language
into the "lingua franca" of the Andes and it remains so today, even 4 centuries after the competing Spanish language
appeared. (Ref. 62 ([91]), 221 ([295]))
There have been millions of words written about the Inca civilization. In this outline we can only hope to summarize
some of the more important and interesting features. Inca governors subdivided the entire population into groups of 10
persons106 and were thus able to control activities of every farmer and craftsman. All the people lived in small villages,
but there was a system of post and military roads and coastal navigation was well advanced. Agriculture was extensive,
with a complex pattern of irrigation and terracing. Art, architecture and metal working were all well developed. They
had a calendar and advanced surgical techniques. The famous royal highway of the Incas incorporated the earlier
Moche roads into a 6,000 mile network, one road connecting Quito in the north to Cuzco in the center and eventually
down to the Maule River in Chile. Another coast road ran absolutely straight for miles on end. These roads averaged
20 feet in width, were of ten paved with stone or cut through rock and many deep chasms were bridged. Nothing in
Europe compared to these roads from the time of the Romans until the era of Napoleon. (Ref. 8 ([14]), 10 ([18]))
The Incas had a number of effective plant medications, including quinine from cinchona bark for malaria, coca,
containing cocaine for both tranquilizing and stimulation, as well as atropine, ipecacuana, curare, theophyllin and
various mind-altering plants such as peyotl, teonancatl and ololiuqu. Surgery was usually a separate profession. Skulls
were trepanned, but whether this was for medicinal, religious or other reasons is not known. (Ref. 125 ([173]))
Inca-style jars, with black on cream decorations and lines forming grids are called aryballoses and are identical with
some in a French museum made by north African Berbers. There appears to have been no local precursor to Inca
pottery. Even at Cuzco, shards of Inca pottery lie above fragments of an entirely different, un-related style. No pottery
earlier than the Incas has been found either in Machu Picchu, Ollantaytambo or in Chinchero, where there were most
imposing complexes. In other places, deep to the layers of Inca pottery, one finds the Killki type, which Engel (Ref.
62 ([91])) states to be in no way related to the Incas’. To quote Engel directly concerning the Killki:
"The ’keros’ or hardwood flaring vessels with flat bottoms and polychrome decorations, are supposedly associated
with Inca times. There is an astonishing collection of them, and it is really regrettable- that almost nothing has
been published regarding these archaeological treasures. The shape of the keros is clearly Tiahuanacoid, however,
and the many-colored decorations ornamenting them indicate that many of them, if not all, belong to the period of
protohistorical transition. Flowers, European costumes, or African faces are depicted on them. I do not think these
keros constitute an element very typical of the final pre-Columbian period."107
A further confusing fact is that the Inca construction technique of using enormous polyhedral blocks without mortar
appeared abruptly in this 15th century and the only comparable architecture is in far away Polynesia in the Marquesas
Islands. One of the Inca cities, Ollantaytambo, has an adjacent terrace rising 300 feet high, with stairways too steep
for horses to climb. On a crest above are enormous carved, monolithic slabs weighing over 100 tons each and there is
no way of knowing whether these were raised there under the direction of the Tiahuanacos or the Incas. Their size and
the difficulty of emplacement rivals both Stonehenge and the temples of Egypt. (Ref. 62 ([91])) By 1471 the Incas had
pushed south into Chile and northern Argentina, while after 1493 the new emperor Huayna Capac concentrated on the
north, founding Quito in modern Ecuador as a northern capital. His sons, however, fought bitter civil war, dividing the
northern and southern parts of the empire.
Along the western frontier of what is now Argentina, lived the Chiriguanos, a Guaranis tribe with Caribbean customs,
who had settled in the lower Andes in pretohistoric times. Finally they conquered all the lower Andes from the
Bermejo River to Santa Cruz in the north. It is known historically that several tens of thousands of them made trips
of over 600 miles and were a permanent menace to cities like Cuzco and Machu Picchu because of their penchant for
the women, salt, wool and metal objects of those centers. Other tribes dotted the whole northern and western South
American areas - the peaceable Arawaks, the Chiquitos, who used curare-poisoned arrows, the Mojos, the Yuracares,
106 This
is reminiscent of the organization of the Mongol armies.
quotation is from Engel (Ref. 62 ([91])), pages 206 and 207. The underlining is mine. All of this brings up the mysterious possibility of
pre-Columbian European visits, again.
107 This
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
131
the Mosotenes and the Chimanes and many more in far flung regions where they remain in a primitive state today.
Some paid tribute to the Incas, some fought. (Ref. 62 ([91]))
Much of the original capital city at Cuzco, on the eastern slope of the Peruvian Andes at just over 11,000 feet altitude,
has been excavated, including the famed Inca Shrine and the Temple of the Sun, the walls of which were faced with
gold plates. The Inca rulers were absolute despots, taking 2/3 of each conquered peasant’s harvest. In the south both
Pachacuti and Topa Yupanqui had difficult campaigns to subdue the Collaos, which although desolate now, must have
been one of the most densely populated areas of the Andes at that time. This opened the way to the eastern slopes and
to Bolivia and from there Topa subdued the Diaguites of Chile, down to the edge of Araucanian territory. The area of
Collaos had huge stone storehouses and silos, each capable of containing tons of grain. By the end of the century the
empire covered 37 degrees of latitude. (Ref. 10 ([18]), 62 ([91]))
2.29.1.3.2 EASTERN AND CENTRAL SOUTH AMERICA
There were as many and varied peoples in eastern South America as in the Andes. There were various forest groups
and in the south the Puelche, Charrua and the Mataco stone-age people. No one knows for certain the date of arrival or
the origin of the aborigines of Brazil, but many recognize what appears to be a common cradle in southeast Asia. The
tropical Malays and the jungle Brazilians have a striking physical analogy and many common cultural elements, such
as the poisonous blow pipe. Such jungle equipment could certainly not have survived the barren arctic tundra and very
possibly indicates an involuntary passage along the Urdaneta (Japanese) Current and down the American coast, or even
more reasonable, although unprovable, a migration of Malaysians across the Indian Ocean west to Madagascar, then
to the tip of South Africa and then, riding the southern Atlantic current, to Brazil. (Ref. 95 ([140])) Most of the eastern
South American Indians, particularly those of Brazil, were cannibals, with the dominant tribes often fattening their
victims like cattle before the kill. The victims’ lard was collected in buckets and a portion of the meat was smoked
and hung, as fish or other animal flesh is preserved.
Enemies appear to have been barbecued. In Tannahill’s book Food in History (Ref. 211 ([284])) on page 266 there
is a gruesome picture depicting this, with the title, "Comment les sauvages rotissent leurs ennemis."108 The picture
shows an arm on a barbecue frame over a fire, a human body on the floor with the head just chopped off and another
person apparently in the act of eviscerating this victim. Some children have a man’s head and two men seem to be
holding a human thigh in the background. At home these warrior-farmers lived in the nude, their bodies painted. Their
houses had thatched roofs made of laths from long bamboos cut with a stone axe. They used bows, harpoons and
boats. Manioc and corn were grown in clearings made by burning trees and they of ten had to move to be near fresh
water.
The name "Brazil" was taken from the brazilwood trees found there. It seems probable that Portuguese fishermen
knew of the existence, not only of the Azores, but also the coast of Brazil long before the time of Columbus and
certain customs in both Brazilian and Argentinian Indians are compatible with an African connection, also. (Ref.
62 ([91])) In 1500, the same year in which Columbus was taken back to Spain in chains from his third trip to the
Caribbean, the Portuguese Admiral Pedro Alvares Cabral landed in Brazil.
Actually he had been headed for India via Cape of Good Hope from the Cape Verde Islands, with 13 caravels, when
contrary winds had driven him westward. He took possession of Brazil in the name of Manoel I, of Portugal. (Ref.
222 ([296]))
Forward to America: A.D. 1501 to 1600 (Section 2.30)
Choose Different Region
1. Intro to Era109
2. Africa (Section 1.29)
3. Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.29)
108 Tannahill
109 "A.D.
reports that the picture was taken originally from I a Cosmographie Universelle, Vol. 2, Paris, 1,575.
1401 to 1500" <http://cnx.org/content/m17725/latest/>
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
132
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
Europe (Section 4.29)
The Far East (Section 6.29)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.29)
The Near East (Section 7.29)
Pacific (Section 8.29)
2.30 America: A.D. 1501 to 1600110
2.30.1 AMERICA
Back to to America: A.D. 1401 to 1500 (Section 2.29)
2.30.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
2.30.1.1.1 THE FAR NORTH AND CANADA
It was mentioned earlier in this chapter that this century has been called the "Little Ice Age" because of an overall drop
in temperature. Although the Thule Arctic Culture was probably little affected, the arctic glacier now extended well
down on Greenland, destroying the agricultural base there, which had helped to support neighboring Iceland. (Ref.
224 ([299]))
Only 12 years after Columbus’ first voyage to America, Breton fishermen were working the cod banks off Nova Scotia
and soon were on the mainland, trading with the Indians for furs. Gaspar Corte-Real had discovered Newfoundland for
Portugal and the French explorers Verrazano and Cartier initiated the "French Kingdoms of the North" to give needed
revenues for the luxuries of the court of young Francois I. Giovanni de Verrazano (actually a Genoese) sailed all up
the coast from Chesapeake Bay to the Strait of Belle Isle. Jacques Cartier followed in 1534, named the St. Lawrence
River and then tried for a sea route to Asia, finding only auks, cod, herring, wolf fish, wapiti, elks, beaver and even a
polar bear. Scurvy became rampant among his Frenchmen and the Hurons with whom they dealt. After that period for
50 years there were only trappers and traders, with trading posts at Quebec and Montreal. The name "Canada" is an
Indian word meaning "village". (Ref. 39 ([60]), 122 ([170]), 150 ([205]), 222 ([296]))
2.30.1.1.2 THE UNITED STATES (See map on page 1009)
By 1600 there were probably 1,000,000 Indians, speaking some 2,000 languages, in the United States. (Ref. 8 ([14]))
New York state and the lower Great Lakes region were the lands of the Iroquois. Their village sites were built away
from waterways and were sometimes fortified. They farmed maize and possibly beans and squash and hunted. Pottery
was used for cooking and storing tobacco for their pipes. (Ref. 45 ([66])) In 1845 settlers near Onandaga, not far from
Lake Ontario, found a stone which was inscribed "Leo VI 1520" and this may indicate a Norse settlement proscribed
by the then Pope Leo VI, some 14 years before the arrival of Jacques Cartier. (Ref. ) In 1584 Sir Walter Raleigh
sent Amandes and Barlow to found a colony at Raleigh, Virginia, but it was subsequently lost, as were two following
attempts in 1587 and 1589 by John White on Roanoke Island.
The century ended without even a trading post belonging to Britain in the New World. (Ref. 222 ([296]))
Although there were the limited French and English efforts just mentioned, Spain owned America in this 16th century,
as far as Europeans were concerned. After the Caribbean was ravaged by the dregs of Spanish civilization, as we shall
note in the next section, it was the turn of the Gulf Coast of the United States. A first expedition, led by Ponce de
Leon (who had been on Columbus’ second trip), landed in Florida in 1513 claiming that region for Spain. In the 16th
century "Florida" meant the entire area of present day Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi and possibly
more. Ponce may not have been the first Spaniard in Florida, as one early writer says that when- Ponce arrived at
110 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17799/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
133
Charlotte Harbor on the Gulf side, a Spanish-speaking Indian greeted him. This native, however, may have escaped
from a passing Spanish ship or come from the Antilles on his own.
Archeological and linguistic evidence discloses numerous pre-Columbian contacts between these two places. In spite
of all the stories in children’s histories about Ponce de Leon’s trip to "find the fountain of youth", he really sailed
to Florida to capture slaves and find precious metals, if available. He was authorized to make war on the Lucayhos
aborigines, if necessary. Florida was erroneously regarded as just another island and the term Lucayos (or Bimini)
frequently included Florida. On his first voyage, Ponce was not very successful, obtaining little more than a handful
of Indians, some of whom he trained as interpreters, but when he returned in 1521 he opened war against the Caluysa
and they killed him. (Ref. 267 ([321]))
There were apparently many shipwrecks of European vessels along the southern coasts in the 16th century - some
say 10,000 - and the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex of Indians began to use the silver coins and jewelry for their
own pendants, gorgets and beads. All of this means that the Algonquians, Siouans, Muskhogeans and Iroquoians
living by the ocean knew a great deal about the Europeans before they actually landed. In 1520 Lucas Vasquez de
Ayllon commissioned Francisco Gordillo to sail to the northerly part of La Florida and he did so, going clear up to
Chesapeake Bay, even making a short exploratory inland trip in the vicinity of Pawley’s Island. After some other
explorations by subordinates, Ayllon himself set forth in 1526 with 7 ships, 500 men, 100 women and Negroes, 89
horses and interpreters to settle in the region of the Cape Fear River or the Santee River. The enterprise did not prosper
as one provision ship wrecked and sank and Ayllon died after an extended sickness. The remaining people relocated
farther south near the future George- town, Carolina, where most died of disease, drowning or Indian warfare. A few
remnants returned to Hispaniola. A little later Narvaez landed in the vicinity of Tampa Bay and detected gold among
the natives’ possessions. They claimed it had been obtained in Apalachee, a province in the north. Certainly there was
gold in the Appalachian Mountains, but whether the Indians had mined it in truth or obtained the gold from shipwrecks
or from Mexico, is not known. Narvaez searched for the source but was unsuccessful. – The only survivors of this
expedition were Cabeza de Vaca, the black Moor slave, Esteban and a few others. The first two and one other wandered
for 8 years across the southern United States, including Texas, Arizona and New Mexico to the area inhabited by the
Pima Indians, finally reaching Mexico City. (Ref. 39 ([60]), 267 ([321]))
Leaving Spain in 1538, Hernando de Soto landed in the vicinity of present day Tampa Bay in 1539 following Narvaez’
trail with 600 men and more than 200 horses. He went up the peninsula, wintered in Apalachee, then struck out
northward to Cofitachiqui, west- ward to present day Alabama and across the Mississippi into Arkansas before finally
dying and being buried in the Mississippi River. On his travels he visited the Queen of the powerful Coitachiqui
Chiefdom, occupying a central position in present day South Carolina, and was impressed by the numerous houses,
large mounds and the grand wooden mat-covered temple. The queen and her court wore long pearl necklaces those in her possession reputedly weighing all together some thousands of pounds. Her warriors had copper-tipped
pikes, maces, battle axes and perhaps 50,000 bows and quivers. The Cofitachiqui language is unknown. Supposedly
Cofitachique contained at least 500 houses, as did Caxa in Alabama and Ocale in Florida. All was not sweetness and
light, however, as the Spanish say that an army of 10,000 Timucuans contested De Soto’s trip through Florida and up
to 7,000 warriors assaulted him in Mabila. But de Soto and his Spaniards brought small-pox, measles, tuberculosis,
chicken-pox, scarlet fever, typhus, influenza, whooping cough and the common cold so that within a few decades
the southeast became markedly depopulated and the economic and political structure of Mississippian life collapsed
permanently. Furthermore, the Caluyas and the Cofitachiqui may already have been depleted and some settlements
abandoned before De Soto arrived as a result of the migration of infected survivors from a great 1530 plague in Mexico
City. (Ref. 267, 39) Thus, before proceeding with a further description of the Spanish invasion, a few more words
about the southeastern Indians prior to the advent of Spanish explorers seems advisable.
All southern Indians were essentially farmers and maize was the staff of life. Farming techniques had progressed
far beyond any primitive slash and burn type of agriculture. The impression for years has been that the squaws did
most of the work, but this is not correct. These Indians lived chiefly in towns and had their fields in the countryside.
While women may have attended small garden plots, men did much of the work in the principal fields, clearing them,
girdling large trees with stone axes and knives and fire, disposing of stumps, breaking the ground with hoes consisting
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
134
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
of wooden handles with stone, conch shells or large animal bones at the ends. The maize was grown quite scientifically,
planted at stated intervals in hills. As growth occurred, more dirt was piled up around the hill, keeping down weeds,
trapping moisture and ensuring a higher yield. A Timucuan practice in Florida was to plant one crop of maize in the
early spring and another in the summer on the same ground. It was also possible to grow dent, sweet, pop and other
varieties of corn, which matured at different intervals. Although secondary in importance, hunting and gathering did
occur. Deer were important, not only for food but for skins, and bears were hunted particularly for their oil, as well as
fur and meat. It is not known whether maize was brought up from Meso-America overland via Texas or by sea through
the West Indies. (Ref. 267 ([321]))
It was in the Virginia and Carolina Tidewater area where mixing of the northern hunting-oriented culture with the
southern maize-agrarian civilization can best be documented. The Algonquians, originally spread over Canada, were
late arrivals in the Tidewater, becoming in part, the Powhatan Confederacy in Virginia and Pamlico and Machapunga
of eastern North Carolina. A feature conspicuously absent in the Tidewater was the temple platform mound. Other
Algonquians were the Roanoke, Croatoan and Chowanoc. At the time of white contact there were powerful chiefdoms
which might almost be called empires all over the south and southeast, including the Cofitachiqui, Powhatan, Natchez
and Calyusa. When the Natchez Sun died, his subjects staged an elaborate funeral which included immolation of his
wives. Nearer the east coast local natives had had extensive contact with Europeans for generation before Raleigh’s
Roanoke fiasco, some from Spanish land contact, such as with Ayllon and otherwise with ships either wrecked or
coming ashore for provisions.
In spite of their early failures, Spain did not give up. Tristan de Luna took 1,500 men, women and black slaves to try
2 settlements, one at Pensacola and the other at Saint Elena (Port Royal). Lack of supplies, disease, internal bickering
and native hostility again defeated the expectations. St. Augustine was founded by Menendez with more than 1,000
soldiers, farmers, artisans, their wives and Negroes in 1565. At first it was really a military base from which to attack
the thousand or so French Huguenots, who had fortified Ft. Caroline just north on the St. Johns River. After these
French were finally expelled, St. Augustine, with only a mediocre harbor and sandy, relatively unproductive soil,
declined in significance. But from St. Elena, founded in South Caroline in about 1566 on the site of present day Parris
Island Marine Corps base, soldiers and missionaries trekked into the interior, planting at least five garrisons in the
Carolina back country and on the western side of the mountains. For 6 years a Father Sebastian Montero lived among
the pagans, teaching them Spanish and the rudiments of Christianity. St. Elena existed for about 21 years and once
had about 400 people in some 60 houses. (Ref. 267 ([321]), 39 ([60]))
St. Augustine was burned in 1586 by the English privateer, Sir Francis Drake and he also made an unsuccessful attempt
to destroy Santa Elena. He then stopped by Roanoke Island and picked up some of Raleigh’s distressed soldiers. The
few colonists who remained had either been killed or absorbed by the Indians, when a relief ship finally arrived in
1590.
The Indians bartered skins and furs with the whites. Chief Powhatan reportedly had 4,000 deerskins in a single
wardrobe. But the whites took many of the natives captives – Ayllon and DeSoto counting their take in the hundreds.
(Ref. 267 ([321]))
In the southwest, Texas had been claimed for Spain by Alvarez de Pineda in 1519 and by the 1520s large quantities
of horses, cattle and sheep had been brought into New Mexico. In the area of that state and Arizona, there were at
that time about 40,000 Pueblo Indians. At about the same time that De Soto landed in Florida, Francisco Vasquez de
Coronado had Friar Fray Marcos start north from Mexico on an exploration of what is now New Mexico. He used
Esteban, the Moor who had wandered previously from Florida to New Spain, as a guide. Esteban’s black color was
accepted as a novelty by the Indians and some even thought he was a god. In the following year Coronado himself led
an expedition searching for the "Seven Cities of Gold", reaching just south of Sante Fe and then back into the Texas
Panhandle and on to the region of Independence, Kansas and the Nebraska border. He had 250 horsemen, 70 Spanish
soldiers, 1,000 friendly Mexican Indians, baggage animals, sheep, goats and a train of priests. Others of the original
party went around the north end of the Gulf of California and followed the Colorado River up to the Grand Canyon.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
135
On his way back to Mexico Coronado viciously attacked the Acoma111 Indian city about 40 miles west of present day
Albuquerque, in spite of the pope’s edict about humane treatment of the Indians, and in 3 days and nights the Spanish
killed 600
Acomas and imprisoned and enslaved that many more. But Spaniards fell, too, and Coronado returned with only 1/3
of his original 300 plus white men. That Acoma pueblo, originally built by Kersan Indians on top of a rock mesa
with edifices 3 stories high, was already ancient and may have been the oldest inhabited site in the United States. In
spite of that bloody fight, those Acomas were converted to Christianity some 30 years later by a barefoot and unarmed
Franciscan priest, Father Ramirez. (Ref. 39 ([60]), 198 ([287]), 215 ([290]), 165 ([224]))
Beginning in 1596 Juan de Onate took an expedition from Mexico City to El Paso and then to Sante Fe and on to
Quivera, Kansas and then returned via California, at the top of the Gulf. This was followed in 1598 by the arrival
in the New Mexico area by 400 Spanish men, women and children with their 80 wagons and 7,000 head of live
stock. Some 3,000 sheep were included. (Ref. 39 ([60]), 222 ([296])) In the far west an Englishman did upstage the
Spaniards, as Sir Francis Drake anchored in 1579 just north of San Francisco Bay, claiming the land for his queen,
calling it Nova Albion (New England). (Ref. 198 ([287]))112
2.30.1.2 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN
In 1513 Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and became the first known European to view the Pacific
Ocean. Although by the end of the 15th century the Aztec Empire had passed its zenith, in 1519 there were still 60,000
households in Tenochtitlan and the population of the empire has been estimated to have been about 5,000,000 with
25,000,000 to 30,000,000 overall in Mexico. Both Mexico and Peru (as we shall see later) were very densely settled.
The two American foods - maize and potatoes – were higher in caloric value than any old world crops except rice and
this allowed a denser population per square mile than anyplace outside the East Asian rice-paddy region. Maize alone
leads to niacin deficiency and the disease, pellagra, but middle American Indians soaked maize in a lime solution that
broke down the molecules to make "hominy grits" and allowed human digestion to synthesize the needed vitamin. In
some areas the native tomatoes were cultivated and eaten also and this further supplied the otherwise missing vitamins.
It is of interest that in the New World, pellagra became known as "Columbus’ sickness". But even before the Spaniards
came, soil erosion in Mexico was already becoming a problem.
The Aztecs ate chiefly tortillas. Beans supplied some protein, the tomato (originally a weed in the maize fields)
supplied vitamins A and C. They occasionally had wild game and raised small dogs for eating. This dog and the
turkey were their only domesticated livestock. They also ate tadpoles, water flies’ larvae, white worms, frogs, fresh
water shrimp, newts, winged ants, agave worms (Maguey slug) and the iguana. We have mentioned in the last chapter
that they were also somewhat prone to eat human flesh. Throughout the Caribbean people ate large, fat spiders and
plump insects from decaying wood. Manioc was a Cuban poisonous plant, but properly prepared it was edible. The
roots were peeled and grated and the juice squeezed out and subsequently boiled to make a harmless sauce, with the
residual sediment making tapioca. The pulp was sieved and shaped into flat cakes, cooked slowly to make a soft,
flexible bread called "cassava". When dried, it could be kept 2 or 3 years. The manioc root, itself, although protein
deficient, was not eaten by locusts and could be left in the earth as long as 2 years, without deteriorating. (Ref. 211
([284]))
NOTE: Insert Map 56. The Aztec, Maya and Inca Empires
Columbus and those who followed started a great exchange of foods. From Europe to the New World came wheat,
chick-peas, sugarcane, some vegetables and cows. Back to Europe went maize (soon a staple in northern Spain,
Portugal and Italy), potatoes (a source of vitamin C), chocolate, peanuts, vanilla, tomatoes, pineapples, lima beans,
scarlet runner, red peppers, green peppers, tapioca and the turkey. (Ref. 211 ([284])) In Mexico the climate favored
the growth of many medicinal plants which were used by Aztec doctors. Among these were narcotics, medications for
abortion, diarrhea, skin diseases and fever. It is interesting that the Spanish soldiers, after their arrival, of ten preferred
111 Late
112 Juan
Anasazi people of the Acoma pueblo. (Ref. 277 ([37]))
de Cabrillo and Bartolome Ferrelo had previously explored the west coast to Oregon
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
136
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
the Aztec physicians to their European educated ones and in the latter part of the century Philip II sent one of his
physicians, Francisco Hernandez, to Mexico to study native medicine and make a catalog of medicinal plants. (Ref.
125) We insert parenthetically the fact that the great majority of the Spanish troops were simple men, merely fleeing
the poverty of Europe. No important Spanish family took any interest financially, militarily or intellectually in the
conquest of the Americas. (Ref. 62 ([91]))
Every school child knows how the Aztecs, under King Montezuma, were brutally conquered by Hernando Cortez and
his handful of Spanish soldiers, in 1521. What is not always realized is that initially the Indians of Mexico welcomed
the white, bearded strangers and it is thought by some that the Europeans were considered to be gods, returning as
prophesied in some of their ancient legends. At any rate, Cortez landed his ships in the Vera Cruz area, where there
were both Huastecs, who spoke a dialect of Maya and the Totonacs, who were vassals of the Aztecs. The former
were famous for unusual stone sculptures and may have invented Quetzalcoatl, who became a primary god of the
entire region. When Cortez decided to attack the Aztecs after 5 months of reconnoitering, the rebellious Totanacs
joined him. (Ref. 236 ([314]), 45 ([66]), 273 ([6])) The numerous Christian friars and priests, who had accompanied
Cortez, learning of the Aztec human sacrifices, were adamant in the necessity to chastise and then baptize the heathen
Indians. With his Indian mercenaries, picked up along the way, Cortez marched inland toward the capital city. A
relief expedition from Hispaniola in 1520 brought small-pox which spread ahead of the Spaniards through the Indian
population. It was thus that the disease was raging in Tenochtitlan when Montezuma was killed by his own rivals, who
did not want to surrender to the Spaniards. The new leader and many of his followers died within hours of the smallpox, which spread even to Guatemala in the same year. (Ref. 140). Mc Neill (Ref. 139) con firms that smallpox and
measles, brought by Europeans, killed millions of native Americans and had more to do with the collapse of the Aztec
power than merely military operations. The population of Mexico dropped from a probable 25,000,000 to 30,000,000
to 3 million by 1568. (Ref. 140 ([190]))
Of course the Aztecs and the immediately adjacent tribes were not the only native inhabitants of Mexico. In the
far south Chol-speaking Maya Indians hunted the Chiapas jungle with bows and arrows and incidentally probably
encountered many of the old abandoned stone cities of their classic ancestors. The Spanish practically annihilated
those people, however, leaving the Chiapas rain-forest essentially vacant. (Ref. 283 ([217]))
Within two decades of their first landing in Mexico, the relatively few Spaniards had explored the New World from
the Atlantic to the Pacific and from Kansas to Argentina. Is there any reason to think that previous sailors landing on
the Gulf end of the Canary current could not have done the same? (See Chapter 5). The old Mayan Culture had long
gone, but some of the remains were found in Yucatan as early as 1517 by Hernando de Cordova, whose landing party
at Cape Cotoche was ambushed by Indians. He was attacked again in Champoton where 62 men were killed and many
wounded, so that one ship had to be abandoned because of shortage of crew. In 1526 Don Francisco de Montego was
given license to conquer and people the "islands" of Yucatan and Cozumel and to take or buy Indians as slaves. In one
battle in this hot, dry land, 1,200 Indians were slaughtered and at Chichen Itza a second great battle resulted in the loss
of 150 Spaniards and the wounding of almost all the rest. By 1535, not a single Spaniard remained in Yucatan. When
some returned in 1537, many were sacrificed and eaten, but eventually in 1540 the Spanish town of San Francisco de
Campeche was founded. (Ref. 204 ([278])) Perhaps some of these Indians were descendants of the ancient Maya,
Yucatec-speaking families, using bows and arrows, were living in the rain forests of Guatemala at that time. (Ref. 283
([217]))
Year by year the map of the New World was charted in gold, silver and blood. Quickly the Spaniards superimposed
their own civilization and by 1539 there was a printing press and by 1551 a university in Mexico City. By mid-century
some 20,000 Negroes had been brought to Cuernavaca and Vera Cruz. There were productive silver mines in Mexico
by the 1540s. Thomas (Ref. 213) says that while the Spaniards conquered Central and South America on horses, mules
sustained the conquest. Convoys carrying gold and silver and linking Lima, Cuzco, Panama, Vera Cruz and Mexico
were established with these valuable animals. The great harbor at Porto Bello, Panama, became the most thriving town
in the Americas as the Atlantic terminal of the mule track across the isthmus carrying the Spaniards’ treasure from
South America. (Ref. 95 ([140]), 8 ([14]), 213 ([288]), 150 ([205])) Additional Notes (p. 141)
Some of the relative values of things in Central America may be seen in Braudel’s (Ref. 292) comments about Panama
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
137
in 1519. A horse was worth 24 1/2 pesos, an Indian slave 30 pesos and a skin of wine 100 pesos. Pedro de Alvarado,
who had become governor of Guatemala, heard of rich lands in Peru and led an expedition of 500 men to Quito in
1534, by boat. It is probably an indication of the long time, extensive maritime experience of the people of that area
that Alvarado’s Indian navigator carried him directly from the Port of Iztopa (near present San Jose, Guatemala) to the
Bay of Manta in Ecuador. That was a trip across open ocean of about 1,300 miles, minimum. Land travel, however,
would have been at least 1,900 miles, not considering the ups and downs in the mountains, lake detours and the like
through mountainous jungles that were actually probably almost impassable. (Ref. 36 ([57]))
The situation in the Caribbean Basin in this century deserves further discussion. By 1501 Spanish settlers in Hispaniola
(Santa Domingo) had already introduced black slaves, the first in the New World. While Columbus was kept in
the Spanish court, still under the cloud from his 3rd voyage, Amerigo Vespucci returned from the west Atlantic,
proclaiming that there was an entire continent there, a fact which resulted eventually in its being named after him.
Columbus was finally allowed a 4th trip, although refused permission to visit his old Santo Domingo domain. He had
150 men in 4 ships and they made the Atlantic crossing on the trade winds, landing on an island just south of Dominica
in 21 days113 . About 2 weeks later he sent a warning to a large Spanish fleet carrying gold that they should not leave
the port of Santo Domingo because of an approaching hurricane. The fleet commander laughed at the warning and
started for Spain, only to have his flagship go down and his fleet scattered by the storm. 200,000 castellanos of gold
went to the bottom of the Gulf. Columbus’ squadron, anchored in a protected area, escaped damage the first night, but
did receive some battering the next day.
Columbus initiated further explorations among the Caribbean islands. At Bonacca he intercepted natives in a large, 8
feet wide dugout canoe, carrying 25 men and numerous women and children - all wearing dyed cotton coverings and
shirts. The women had colored shawls and the men carried long, flint-edged, wooden swords and copper hatchets. It
has since become obvious that these Indians were trading between Bonocca and Honduras. The fleet went on to the
mainland, anchoring in a harbor where later the city of Trujillo, Honduras was to be founded and there encountered
the Jicaque Indians, dressed as those he had seen in the canoe. This was apparently the remnant of a Mayan Honduran
kingdom.
The fleet then sailed south along the coast of Central America, encountering terrible storms, with Columbus quite
ill and eventually they passed present day Nicaragua and Costa Rica, where they anchored and traded some with the
Talamanca Indians. The Spaniards were impressed with the local fauna, which included deer, pumas and wild turkey.
On farther south in Panama they encountered Guaymies Indians, who painted their faces white, black and red and these
men even had some real gold. The possibility of mines in that region enticed Columbus into starting a settlement there.
When 10 or 12 houses had been built, it stopped raining and the river mouth, where the caravels had been anchored,
dried up to the point where the ships were stranded. This was followed by savage Indian attacks which eventually
resulted in the loss of 10 men and abandonment of the village. When the rains returned the little fleet took off again
for Hispaniola, abandoning one ship, which had been afloat for a year. Two more vessels were leaking badly and when
Jamaica was finally reached these were intentionally run aground for the remaining 116 men to use as houseboats,
as they were no - longer seaworthy. Two dugout canoes were sent to Santo Domingo for help from Columbus’ old
enemy, Governor Ovando; half of the remaining men mutinied and tried to leave; the Jamaican Indians quit feeding
the Spaniards and relented only when Columbus awed them by predicting the eclipse of the moon of February 29,
1504. The mutineers were finally defeated and- ultimately, after more than a year, all were rescued by a ship from
Santo Domingo. Part of the rescued men stayed in the Caribbean to eventually help to settle Puerto Rico, while the
others returned to Spain with Columbus. The old Spanish queen was dying and Columbus received no glory.
We have already noted the decimation provoked in the West Indies by small-pox in 1519. Some type of plague, perhaps
typhus or influenza, hit the islands again in 1567 with some becoming completely depopulated. (Ref. 260 ([29])) Early
in the century the Spanish abducted the native Arawak Indians from the Bahamas for slave labor and those islands also
remained uninhabited for more than a century. (Ref. 274 ([20])) In addition, Spaniards transported somewhere in the
range of 2,000 to 5,000 Indians from the United States to the West Indies. But the Cuban governor’s report of 1530
113 Trager (Ref. 222 ([296])) has given a gross misstatement on page 161 to the effect that Columbus’ 4th voyage took 8 months for the Atlantic
crossing
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
138
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
showed that 1/3 of the island’s natives died during the year and this was the excuse for the importation of African
slaves. The viruses brought by these blacks helped to decimate the Indian natives. Both before and after Menendez
founded St. Augustine, Florida Indians (particularly the Calyusas) had gone by canoe to Cuba either voluntarily or
against their will, but in any case they died off as fast there as the native Cubans. Menendez married the daughter of
Chief Carlos and when she made a trip to Cuba with her court, most of them soon died. In 1570, about 100 years after
the arrival of Europeans, the population of Hispaniola had been reduced to 125 people. By the end of the century blacks
and whites, along with Indians imported from elsewhere in the New World, had replaced the aboriginal populace of
the Greater Antilles.
We should note, that just as in the Pacific, ships were not able to go straight eastward across the Atlantic from the
Caribbean, because of the prevailing winds and currents. Spanish ships first made a rendezvous at Havana, then sailed
close by the Gulf Coast through the Bahama Channel in the Gulf Stream along the coast to the Carolinas, where
westerly winds returned them to Spain. As previously noted, many were wrecked on the mainland coasts. (Ref. 267
([321]))
2.30.1.3 SOUTH AMERICA
2.30.1.3.1 NORTHERN AND WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA
The first South American contact of the Spaniards occurred in 1501 when the Bay of Santa Marta and the Gulf of
Cartagena in Colombia were explored. According to the chroniclers the natives were then living on the seacoast on
a 90 mile strip below an altitude of 3,300 feet, engaged in gold metallurgy. The Spanish called them the Chairamas,
whence came the name of the Tairona society, which may mean a place where metal is melted. The actual mines
may have been located farther west and the Chairamas may have obtained it from the Taumacos, who dominated the
gold bearing regions. Nevertheless, the fighting between the coast Indians and the Spaniards was bloody and the latter
never did really conquer the area, as the Taironas withdrew to the mountains where they finally disappeared, probably
from disease and hunger. The ruins of their original settlements have been in part excavated and have revealed stone
buildings reached by roads and paved stairways some of which were 60 feet wide and by bridges of stone blocks.
There were rock carvings and farming terraces and artificial mounds, perhaps for ceremonial use.
In the next 25 years several Spanish towns were established along this northern coast of South America. In 1528
the Welsers of Augsburg even appeared in Venezuela, but Spanish ill-will and terrible local atrocities brought their
financial enterprises to failure. (Ref. 62 ([91]), 292 ([28]))
Before the days of the Spaniards some of the desert coast land of Peru was inhabited. Every 25 miles or so the desert
is cut by a stream or river, which has created an oasis and made life possible. In the past some of these were the sites
of very large cities, but during Hispanicization provincial life turned away to the central Andes and the coast remained
practically bare. Like Mexico, parts of South America were densely settled at the time of European discovery. The
Andean population was about 25,000,000 to 30,000,000. The people of Peru were mainly vegetarian, although there
were some fish and occasionally communal game hunts for deer, llamas, guanacos, bears, pumas, foxes and vizcacha.
Guinea pigs were raised in nearly every household along with ducks. The chief foods, however, were maize, potatoes,
squash, beans, manioc and sweet potatoes, peanuts, tomatoes, avocados and chili peppers. Maize would not grow
above 11,000 feet but potatoes and other tubers such as oca and guinoa, would. The potatoes were preserved by
combined freezing and drying methods and the result was called "chunu", of greatest importance to highland People114
The slave workers of the silver mines of Potosi (now in south central Bolivia) subsisted almost entirely on chunu. That
city was founded in 1545 at the altitude of 13,780 feet and by 1,600 had 100,000 people. Although the Spaniards spent
most of their time looking for gold, silver was the real treasure of South America and soon the quicksilver mines of
Huancavelica in Peru did not supply sufficient mercury for the amalgam processing in all the American silver mines
and additional supplies had to be shipped from Spain and Yugoslavia. (Ref. 292 ([28]))
114 It should be noted that because the Andes Indians had the custom of replanting the smaller potatoes and eating the larger ones, potatoes at that
time were generally only peanut-sized. The large potato of today is the product of centuries of more enlightened horticulture. (Ref. 222 ([296]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
139
Besides the empire of the Incas, South America had the Chimu Kingdom, with a capital at Chan Chan and then some
less complex societies, called chiefdoms. Two types of the latter existed: (1) A militaristic society, with hereditary
classes governed by war chiefs and with usually four classes; caciques or chiefs; people of rank; farmers; and slaves.
(2) Theocratic societies under a shaman who officiated in a temple. War was necessary to maintain cannibal practices and to procure trophy heads, which were important symbols in the magic rituals of Chavin, Paracas, Nazca and
Tiahuanaco religions. This rite disappeared in the Inca civilization, which seems to have taken over the area previously
occupied by the Chimu princes. The explorer Pizarro does not even mention Chan Chan, but those people left many
cultural developments in the central Andes, including administrative organization, communications by road, agriculture, long canals allowing intensive farming and perhaps trade and navigation. Their princes dominated only a few
valleys, however, and the Incas exerted a much greater influence on the region as a whole. (Ref. 62 ([91]))
In the Peruvian coastal areas which had been irrigated, there was already considerable salting of the soil and the
population was collapsing. In addition, the small-pox which the Spaniards had brought to Mexico and the West
Indies had spread even faster than they did and it was ravaging Peru by 1525. The reigning Inca, Huayna Capa, died
of the disease and civil war followed between his two sons. It was into this wreckage of an empire that in 1532
Francisco Pizarro arrived with 106 foot soldiers and 62 horses. As when the Europeans landed in Mexico, Pizarro
was at first mistaken for a god, but late in the year he moved his troops inland and seized one of the warring Inca
princes, Atahualpa, in the midst of his vast army at Cajamarca. Intimidated by the horses and the obvious fire-power,
the Indians put up no resistance, but the prince obtained his temporary release by paying the most fabulous ransom
in history - a chamber 8 feet high filled with various objects of gold and jewelry along with 2 similar sized rooms
filled with silver. After Pizarro had melted the metal down and distributed part of it among his men, he conveniently
garroted Atahualpa on a false charge and appointed still another- royal brother, Tupac Hualpa, as the slain emperor’s
successor. He did not last long either and was succeeded by Manco. It is no wonder that relations between the two
peoples steadily deteriorated so that by late 1535 the situation had become intolerable, from the Inca standpoint.
Manco escaped and assembled an army 100,000 strong to start a resistance to the Spaniards that was to last 36 years.
The latter had now been reinforced and were strongly entrenched at Cuzco so that the Incas were unable to reclaim that
city. Manco retreated to the juncture of the Andes and the Amazon basin and when pursued even there by a Spanish
force, he retreated to Vitcos in the Vilcabamba River valley. Attacked again, he retreated once more while the spoils
of Vitcos fell to the Spaniards, including some 20,000 prisoners and 50,000 head of llamas and alpacas. Hidden in
the upper Vilcabamba, Manco recouped his forces, while in the meantime Pizarro had been murdered in his palace by
some of his own disgruntled soldiers. Some of these then ran and took refuge with Manco and his Incas, where they
taught the Indians the Spanish fighting techniques and horseback riding. Later these same Spanish renegades turned on
Manco and slew him (1544) leaving the resistance against the Spanish to be led by Manco’s son, Sayri Tupac. Some
years later Sayri was offered a pardon by the Spanish crown and early in 1558 he married his sister, Cusi Huarcay115 .
Actually Sayri was never really crowned and died of illness in 1560. All five of Atahualpa’s daughters married high
ranking Spaniards and the dynasty was eliminated. All of Pizarro’s expeditionary forces eventually met disaster. In
addition to his own assassination, his three brothers all met violent deaths in one fashion or another. His men either
had their heads cut off by the king’s executioners or died in brawls or in native battles. The first bishop of Cuzco,
Vincente de Valverd, was eaten by the inhabitants of Puna Island, while trying to flee back to Spain. (Ref. 62 ([91]))
In the meantime many other conquistadores were traveling all over the northern part of South America, looking for
gold. In 1535 Sebastian de Balacazar, veteran of the Inca conquest and founder of Quito, was told of a king who
sprinkled his body with gold dust before swimming in his sacred lake. The legend named the mysterious king "El
Dorado - the Golden man" and it fanned the lust for the precious metal among all the Spanish explorers. Gonzalo
Jimenez de Quesada led an expedition inland from Columbia’s northern coast in 1536, struggling through forests and
swamps. Decimated by fever, malaria and attacks by hostile natives, only 200 of his original 900 men reached the
Chibcha villages that were strewn across Colombia’s Cundinamarca plateau. He found no gold, but did found the city
of Santa Fe de Bogota, now the capital of Colombia. Others explored this same country, including the German Nicolaus
Federmann and his countryman Philip von Guttan. Spaniards, including Gonzalo Pizarro, brother of Francisco and
Francisco de Orellana also headed to the interior and when the latter came down a great river he encountered a tribe
115 As
in ancient Egypt, this incestuous situation was the rule among the imperial family of Peru. (Ref. 62 ([91]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
140
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
whose long-haired women drew a bow better than any man. Orellana gave the name "Amazonas" to the river, after
those warrior women of the old Greek legend. Toward the end of the century, the hunt for gold shifted toward Guiana
and then to the island of Trinidad, where the Spanish met the English adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh, who was on a
similar search. Eventually some gold was found between the years 1525 and 1533 in Colombia and as has been noted,
Potosi in Bolivia became for 100 years the biggest source of silver in the world. (Ref. 176 ([242]), 175 ([241]), 8
([14]))
After conquering the Incas in Peru, the Spanish tried to extend down into Chile about 1536, but they were pretty
well stopped by the cannibalistic Araucanian Indians. Pedro de Valdiva did reach far enough south to found the
city of Santiago in Chile by 1541. There, eventually as elsewhere in South America, silver mines were found and
worked by the natives under Spanish direction. Recent study of skeletons of colonial Indians who mined silver in
Tarapaca, of northern Chile, has shown evidence of the occupational illness of pneumoconiosis and silicosis from
silver mining. Little is known of the Araucanians who lived on the western slope of the Chilean cordillera and on
Chiloe Island prior to the arrival of the Spaniards. There were at least three groups, each speaking a dialect of an
exclusive South American language. Estimations of their number, when the Spaniards arrived, vary from 500,000 to
2,000,000. Peaceful relations with them were not really established until the 18th century, although they were farmers
and not basically hunters. Only the Quechus and Aymaras tribes were city builders, while the Mapuches lived more
agricultural lives. The tribes fought each other and captives were ritually tortured and sacrificed. Cannibalism was
practiced. (Ref. 175 ([241]), 3 ([4]), 62 ([91]))
A few last words are indicated before we leave the west coast of South America. In 1526 when Francisco Pizarro left
the Panamanian isthmus on his second and most intensive voyage down the coast, he encountered Peruvian merchant
rafts coming north – rafts as large as Pizarro’s caravel. The first one was a 36 ton raft with 20 Indians, masts with
cotton sails, well rigged. The secret of control lay with multiple center-boards (guaras) in line along the center of the
vessels, the skillful use of which allowed steering and beating up-wind to some degree. Some of the larger vessels
had thatched bamboo huts with 4 or 5 rooms. They often carried salt along with other provisions for the 200 to 300
hundred mile trips between ports. Dry balsa wood would be too water absorbent for these rafts, but green balsa, when
put to sea still filled with sap, is very water resistant. The description of these vessels from the early Spaniards is
indisputable evidence that the Peruvians were capable of extensive ocean travel. (Ref. 95 ([140]))
2.30.1.3.2 EASTERN AND CENTRAL SOUTH AMERICA
Horses which had been introduced far to the west in Peru by Pizarro were, within a few years, to be found running in
large, wild herds even in the pampas of eastern South America. Sugar cane reached Brazil in about 1520 and sugar
mills were set up in about 1550, so that soon there appeared the eternal trinity - the master’s house, the slaves cabins
and the sugar mill. Still the master had to sell his product and it was European trade that commanded production and
output in Brazil and elsewhere in the New World. (Ref. 292 ([28])) As early as 1521 the Portuguese began building
forts in Brazil, hoping to reach the legendary empire of gold from the east, across the Chaco. The Guaranis tribes,
already used to pillaging the rich Incanized slopes of the eastern Andes, helped the Portuguese expeditions. When
the Spaniard Martinez de Irala reached the upper Andes in 1548, that part of Peru and Bolivia were already under
Portuguese control. But Asuncion, now in Paraguay, 600 miles inland from the Atlantic, had been settled in 1542 by
the Spaniard de Vaca116 . Farther south the Spaniards had constant skirmishes with the Diaguites, who now used bow
and arrows, but who were soon wiped out by disease. According to one priest, the Diaguites practiced circumcision,
which recalls our note on page 212 regarding Mochican pottery vessels depicting circumcised prisoners. South of
the Diaguites but still east of the cordillera there was a small group, the Huarpes, who may have been related to the
former, but were described as tall, thin, brown men with lots of hair. The Chacos lived on the savannahs farther east
and much farther south lived the Comechingons, between about the 29th and 34th parallels. The first Europeans to see
them described them ashaving beards and wearing long, wool tunics. The chroniclers added that the Comechingons
could mobilize as many as 40,000 warriors, although Engel (Ref. 62 ([91])) feels that this must be an exaggeration.
116 Other authorities state that the Spanish entered Paraguay in 1524, intermarrying with the Guarani and founding Asuncion in 1537. (Ref. 175
([241]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
141
Bahia was founded as the administrative capital for the Portuguese in 1549 and between 1575 and 1600 coastal Brazil
had become the foremost sugar producing territory in the western world, averaging 1,600 tons a year, shipped to
Europe. Soon there were shops on the streets of Sao Paulo and after 1580 Portuguese middlemen invaded the whole
of Spanish America as shopkeepers and peddlers. The natives were nomadic and not easily made into a labor force
and tended to slip away as the Portuguese arrived, so slave ships shuttled between Angola and Brazil, with payment
given in Africa in low grade Brazilian tobacco. Then in half a century Paulist bandeiras spread out from Sao Paulo
over half the continent from the Rio de la Plata to the Amazon and Andes in search of slaves, precious stones and gold.
(Ref. 260 ([29])) It has been estimated that by 1583 there were 25,000 whites, 18,000 civilized Indians and 14,000
Negro slaves in the territory. The towns of Brazil, which Braudel (Ref. 260 ([29])) has described as so many miniature
versions of Sparta or Thebes, were run by the men of property, the Spanish cabildos.
Argentina had been discovered even earlier in 1516 by the Spanish Juan Diaz de Solis and the coasts explored by
Diego Garcia in 1526. Buenos Aires was founded in 1534 by Pedro de Mendoza but the village soon died out or was
destroyed. When it was rebuilt in 1580 it was chiefly by Portuguese merchants. Their ships streamed west across the
Atlantic laden with rice, fabrics, black slaves and perhaps some gold, would arrive at Buenos Aires, then go up the Rio
de la Plata to Ascension, where they would trade for silver reals coming down the Pilcomayo River. (Ref. 292 ([28]))
Magellan and 265 men rounded Cape Horn as early as 1520 on their famous globe circling trip, but it was about 1579
that Europeans came in contact with the natives of Patagonia. They were described as being light-skinned men with
thick, bushy black, wiry hair, who smeared their bodies with red paint and grease. The Europeans attempted a colony
there and brought sheep, which the Patagonians promptly hunted. Today there are no true Patagonians left. Additional
Notes (p. 141)
Forward to America: A.D. 1601 to 1700 (Section 2.31)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era117
Africa (Section 1.30)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.30)
Europe (Section 4.30)
The Far East (Section 6.30)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.30)
The Near East (Section 7.30)
Pacific (Section 8.30)
NOTE : The seat of the Spanish government in Central America was at Gracias, Honduras briefly in the
1540s, but then moved to Guatemala in 1,549. Lempira was a great Indian leader, who fought against the
Spanish conquest for two years in Honduras, beginning in 1537. Trujillo, on the Honduras Caribbean coast,
was an early Spanish stronghold, with a massive brick fortress with the cannon pointed seaward. (Ref. 308
([85]))
NOTE : Magellan named the island off the southern tip of South America "Tierra del Fuego" because the
natives had not yet learned how to kindle a flame and they had to keep their campfires burning all the time.
(Ref. 302 ([305])) In the service of Spanish merchants, the Portuguese Sebastian Cabot reached the Rio de
la Plata about 1530
117 "A.D.
1501 to 1600" <http://cnx.org/content/m17726/latest/>
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
142
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
2.31 America: A.D. 1601 to 1700118
2.31.1 AMERICA
Back to America: A.D. 1501 to 1600 (Section 2.30)
2.31.1.1 NORTH AMERICA (See map in next module)
In the early 17th century northern Europeans, already experienced in smuggling and raiding Spanish-American shipping, began to establish permanent colonies of their own in America. The north Europeans ’ advantages included
their access to the sources of shipbuilding material (particularly around the Baltic), fewer political commitments and
diversification of European interests and finally more sophisticated devices for obtaining capital and spreading risks the chartered joint-stock company. (Ref. 8 ([14]))
2.31.1.1.1 CANADA AND THE FAR NORTH
The Thule Arctic Culture, which has been discussed in several previous chapters, is generally conceded to have ended
about 1700, merging into the Modern Eskimo Culture. Samuel Champlain was sent out to Canada from France in
1603 to map the known rivers. Establishing Quebec as a base, he explored Lakes Huron and Ontario and sided with
the Algonquin and Huron Indians, while defeating the hostile Iroquois. The Jesuit priest, Pierre Francois Xavier de
Charlevoix, who wrote a Histoire de’la Nouvelle France in the 18th century, accumulated much information about
the French-Iroquois war of 1610. He told of terrible atrocities committed by the Hurons on the Iroquois prisoners,
including cannibalism119 . Champlain was the most versatile of colonial founders, a sailor, soldier, scholar and man of
action, artist and explorer. (Ref. 151 ([206])) The friendly Hurons became the middlemen for the fur trade between
Montreal and the Indian trappers of the Great Lakes areas. Nova Scotia was founded as the French colony of Acadia
in 1632. (Ref. 222 ([296]))
At the death of Champlain in 1635 Canada was the property of a joint-stock company, the Hundred Associates.
Settlement advanced very slowly, however, and by 1643, a year after a stronghold had been built at Montreal, there
were not 300 Frenchmen in all New France, exclusive of Nova Scotia. Even by 1665 Quebec contained only 70 houses
and 550 people. The French fur traders, however, soon carried their commerce 2,000 miles inland to the Tetons. They
could live on the barest vegetation and in the crudest shelter, in terrible weather. It was those French guides who later
staffed the Lewis and Clark expedition. (Ref. 151 ([206]), 39 ([60])) In 1685 the governor of Canada wrote to Louis
XIV complaining that the colonial French had not civilized the Indians, but on the contrary, the Frenchmen who lived
among the savages themselves became savages. (Ref. 217 ([68]))
Throughout the entire first 2/3 of the century New France had to continually fight the Five Nations of the Iroquois
League and largely because of this the Hundred Associates gave up in 1663 and surrendered their charter, allowing
Canada to become a crown colony of Louis XIV. In 1665 the Marquis de Tracy arrived with 800 soldiers to wage a
total war campaign against the Iroquois, killing and burning their fields and villages. (Ref. 39 ([60])) The new military
regime was absolute, with severe laws stringently enforced by torture, when necessary. The Marquis’ chief claim to
fame is that he brought girls along to be the soldiers’ wives and these, along with a few descendants of extraneous
unions of coureurs de bois with young Indian girls, are primarily the ancestors of all present day French-Canadians.
Robert Cavelier de La Salle, born at Rouen and educated in a Jesuit seminary, emigrated to Canada early in life and
from letters brought to life much later, it is apparent that he started his first exploratory trip south from Canada as
early as 1671. In 1675 he visited France and received a grant of the government and property at Fort Frontenac (now
Kingston, Ontario), which had been previously established in 1672 under the name of Fort Cataraqui. La Salle rebuilt
the fort and in the spring of 1678 was commissioned to undertake the exploration of the Mississippi River. (Ref. 63
([93])) We shall here more of him in the next section.
118 This
119 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17800/1.2/>.
information is found in de Tocqueville (Ref. 218 ([69])), pages 337 and 338).
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
143
The first commercial venture into the Hudson Bay area was in 1668 when Fort Charles was built by Scottish entrepreneurs. Two years later the Hudson Bay Company was chartered with title to nearly 1.5 million square miles of
territory. French and Scotch-English fought minor skirmishes in this region over control of the land and its furs for the
next 100 years. (Ref. 212 ([285]))
2.31.1.1.2 THE UNITED STATES
By this time the eastern Woodland Indians were using some 275 plants for medicine, 130 for food, 31 as magic,
27 for smoking, 25 for dyes, 18 in beverages or flavoring and 52 for various other purposes. Most of the tribes
of the northern United States and southern Canada belonged to the Algonquian linguistic stock, comprised of the
Micmacs, Wabanakis, Etchemis, Montaignais, Natick, Abnaki, Massachuset, Penobscot, Wamponoag and Delawares,
in the eastern area. The original name for the Delawares was "Lanape" and there is some evidence that they may
have had some contact with the Dutch as early as 1609. Squeezed between the New York state Iroquois League, the
Susquehannocks and the more southern Powhatan Confederacy, part of the Lenape moved on west and part stayed to
become dependent on and eventually in some degree to fuse with the European settlers. (Ref. 253 ([16])) The early
history of the Shawnees is not known with certainty, but they considered the Delewares their "grandfathers". By 1650
they were living in southern Ohio and northern Kentucky where they remained for several years. Then, after quarrels
with neighbors, they dispersed somewhat, from the Gulf Coast to the Delaware Valley in western New Jersey. (Ref.
293 ([84]))
In what was then the "west", in addition to the Shawnee, were the Potowatami, Menominee, Cree, Ojibwa, Ottawa,
Arapaho, Blackfoot and Cheyenne. A most interesting observation, recently validated to some extent by Professor
Fell, is that the most western of these tribes have Mongolian physical features and Siberian root vocabularies, while
their eastern cousins have markedly European physiognomies and marked grammatical and vocabulary similarities to
the Semitic language of the Phoenicians (or North Africans). Even a few Celtic words have penetrated the eastern
Algonquian dialects and finally there are some Norse words. Fell feels that the eastern Algonquians themselves are
in great part descended from early Mediterranean colonizers and their tribal traditions, which included their ancestors
crossing the sea and some of the local archaeological evidence, might be confirmatory. (Ref. 122 ([170])) Few
historians would back up Fell in these hypotheses and apparently no blood factor studies have been done that might
tend to either deny or confirm such ideas. The Indians of North America used little cylinders cut from blue or violet
sea-shells threaded on a string as money called "wampum". Even Europeans used this legitimately until 1670 and
some even after that. (Ref. 260 ([29])) In 1649 the Virginia assembly had even set standard values - one yard of
wampum (peake or roanoke) equaled two shillings sixpence and one fathom equaled five shillings. If the peake was
black it had double the value. (Ref. 267 ([321]))
Early Spanish, French and English colonists in southeastern United States encountered a 50 settlement confederation
of the Creek Indian Confederacy in an area now consisting of Alabama and Georgia. The confederacy included various
peoples with several languages, including Chickasaw and Choctaw. To the north of the Creek also lived the Cherokees,
some 60,000 strong in about 100 settlements. Their ancestors had built large mounds in West Virginia and Tennessee.
On the lower Mississippi were the Natchez, inheritors of the Mississippian Culture. (Ref. 215 ([290])) Mystery
surrounds the Westos and Ricahecrians, who appeared menacingly on the South Carolina and Virginia frontiers in this
century. Were they one and the same people? Did they speak Iroquoian or Siouan? Many of the coastal Indians relied
heavily on the sea, eating mollusks and catching fish with spears. Bows and arrows, bone hooks, basket traps and
poisons. Until Franciscans established missions and promoted agriculture, Gaule Indians in coastal Georgia depended
primarily on marine life. As agriculture spread, time became available for perfection of crafts such as basket-making,
carpentry, woodworking, pipe-making, weaving, pottery, tanning and even certain kinds of metal work. Tobacco
cultivation created a demand for pipes, some finely wrought from clay and decorated. (Ref. 267 ([321]))
The Calusa were not typical southern Indians and there is much mystery about them, also. They were excellent seamen,
constructing large, seaworthy, dugout canoes, some of which would hold up to 80 men. Among almost all southern
Indians the men were tall for that time, usually 5’6" but some 6’ or more. Both sexes were well proportioned, with
the men wearing deerskin breechcloths and the women skirts. Mantles of deer, bear or buffalo skins, woven feathers
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
144
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
and Spanish moss provided warmth in the winter. Elaborate tattooing was widespread, with extensive body decoration
indicating higher rank. Ornaments were worn by men and women alike. They lived in an essentially law-abiding
society, although their laws and morals were different than their later white counterparts. Men could have as many
wives as they could afford and young girls normally had sexual relations freely. Divorce was easy, but adultery resulted
in severe punishment both for the guilty one and the clan. There is little question that Indians scalped their victims,
even before Europeans arrived. (Ref. 267 ([321]))
The Powhatans in the Virginia Tidewater were the most densely populated of any Indians of the south, and even in
1650 after white contact had begun its depopulation from disease, Dobyns120 estimated that there were 1,357,000
Indians in the South as a whole. Archeological finds backup this high population density. We have already detailed
in the last chapter the story of the early Spanish explorations in the southern United States and something about their
contacts with the Indians. The early English crossing of the Atlantic westward had to take essentially the same course
as Columbus and the Spanish, because of the currents and winds that have been mentioned on several occasions.
Raleigh’s expedition to Roanoke Island, in the last century, sailed through the West Indies before the Gulf Stream
carried his ships northward and the early Jamestown settlers had to follow the same course. In the first half of the 17th
century 60,000 Englishmen sought refuge in the New World, chiefly in the United States. In addition there were a few
Dutchmen and Frenchmen and a sprinkling of Swedes and Finns, as we shall see below. After the original colonization
period along the Atlantic coast, there was a period from about 1640 to 1660 when the colonies were left pretty much
alone, because of civil war and its sequelae in England. From 1675 to 1691 or after, however, there was a time of
troubles in the colonies, including Indian Wars, local rebellions, French incursions, etc. It will be most convenient to
discuss the history of this century under regional headings:
2.31.1.1.2.1 NEW ENGLAND COLONIES
This designation included colonies of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Connecticut. By 1700
there were 130,000 people in this geographical area, with 7,000 in Boston and 2,600 in Newport. These settlers all
belonged to the more independent classes and possessed a great mass of intelligence, which was to greatly influence
the government and commerce of America for generations to come. (Ref. 217 ([68])) The first Englishman to explore
the New England area was Bartholomew Gosnold, who sailed from the Azores in 1602 to go along the coast from
Maine to Cape Cod. He built a house on Cuttyhunk, traded with Indians and left smallpox on the new continent. He
was followed by Thomas Hunt, taking Indians as slaves in 1615 and perhaps again introducing smallpox. By 1617 an
epidemic of this disease reduced the Indian population by over a thousand, some say as much as 10,000. (Ref. 222
([296]))
2.31.1.1.2.1.1 NEW HAMPSHIRE
Two small proprietary colonies were set up - one in New Hampshire and one in Maine. The latter belonged to Sir
Ferdinando Gorges, whose heirs soon sold out to Massachusetts, but small settlements at Portsmouth and Exeter,
N.H., which began as personal estates of Captain John Mason, persisted even af ter being sold to the crown. New
Hampshire was not truly a separate province from Massachusetts until after 1691. In 1690 the first man-of-war built
for the British navy in America, the "Falkland", was completed at Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
2.31.1.1.2.1.2 MASSACHUSETTS BAY
Some Puritan separatists, who had seceded from the Church of England to the Netherlands, under William Brewster
and accompanied by William Bradford, founded the new Plymouth colony in 1620. They immediately set up their
own self government under the Mayflower compact. The Mayflower expedition was subsidized by a loan of 7,000
pounds and it had 149 people, including about 40 "separatists" (i.e. separating from the English Church), chiefly from
Leyden where they had previously gone. In the first winter in the new land over 1/2 died of scurvy or general debility.
They had tried to hit northern Virginia, but missed their target. After the first few seasons, William Bradford became
their governor. These Pilgrims deserve to be famous for two things; first, they survived and secondly they proclaimed
120 Dobyns
was a source mentioned by Wright (Ref. 267 ([321])), page 24.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
145
the Mayflower compact, a bold assertion of their right to self -government. Following the Mayflower was the great
Puritan migration of the 1630s. The promoters of the Massachusetts Bay Colony put up 200,000 pounds. The group
was led by John Winthrop, a Puritan (different from the "Separatists"), who only wanted to "purify" the Church of
England. They first sailed in March, 1630 with 500 men, women and children. On arrival, they raised cattle, Indian
corn and vegetables and soon developed both a fur trade and cod fishing. Winthrop was very concerned about the
saintliness of his colony, but not his customers, as he sold cod and later ships to Roman Catholics and to slave-holding
Virginian planters alike. This colony was at once a theocracy and an oligarchy, yet it adopted trial by jury, freedom
from self-incrimination, and levied no taxes on those who could not vote. But there was no religious tolerance. Baptists
and Quakers-were the Devil’s agents and the Quakers were the worst. By the penal law of the colony any Catholic
priest, who reappeared there after having once been driven out, was subject to death. (Ref. 217 ([68])) Witchcraft was
persecuted, but chiefly after Winthrop’s death. (Ref. 39 ([60])) The Puritan migrations continued until 1637 when the
English Puritans decided to stay and contest their fate in England, itself, as its Civil War started. That war kept Charles
I from suppressing the Bay Colony and its government became a model for the other colonies. In 1634 Massachusetts
joined with her neighboring Puritan colonies to form the New England Confederation. This was a loose union formed
to settle boundary disputes and give mutual protection from Indians, French and Dutch. Free, public education was
soon established, a printing press appeared in Cambridge in 1639 and Harvard University was established in the same
city in 1650.
In 1675 serious Indian troubles began in the so-called King Philip’s War. Metacom, chief of the Wampanoag and
called King Philip by the English, was one of the original friends of the Pilgrim fathers and a frequent patron of
Boston stores. But he became surly over various chastisements and developed a plot to attack the settlers. The chief’s
Harvard educated Indian secretary, Sassamon, tipped off Governor Winslow, however, and Sassamon was subsequently
killed by other Indians. The murderers were found, tried and hanged. Two weeks later war broke out with Philip’s
Wampanoag and their allies, the Nipmuch. The New England Confederation retaliated with a declaration of war, thus
involving Connecticut. The Indians were not organized and had only hit and run tactics. The Narragansett tribe on
the Bay sheltered some of the Indian refugees, giving Winslow the excuse to attack them with 1,000 men and finally
winning in the roughest battle ever fought on New England soil, save the later battle of Bunker Hill. Philip was killed
in August 1676 and most of his Indians were captured. The women and children were used as house servants and the
men were shipped to the West Indies as slaves. The war in the area of Maine did not end until 1678 and the Indians
there retained their land and later helped the French against the English. (Ref. 222 ([296]))
When the Catholic king, James II, assumed the English throne in 1685 the Massachusetts Bay Colony was given a
new administrator, Sir Edmund Andros. When William and Mary ascended the English throne, however, the people of
Boston jailed Andros and returned to their pre-Andros government. New troubles began in 1689 when the French and
their Indian allies began to raid in Maine and New Hampshire. The New England authorities at Boston struck back
directly at Port Royal and Quebec, as the first offensive of the King William’s War. The campaign, under Sir William
Phips in 1690, was a fiasco. The dreary war dragged on and although King William ended the European end of the
conflict in 1697 with the Treaty of Ryswick (see Europe (p. 422)), the American battles continued until 1699.
2.31.1.1.2.1.3 RHODE ISLAND
This Puritan colony was founded by the Reverend Roger Williams, who had been banished from the Massachusetts
Colony. Williams was loved by the Indians, lodged with them, learned their language and respected them. He felt
that it was possible that God might feel their religion equal to Christianity, a heresy of that day. The only unity in
the colony was one of religious liberty. Its fate was to be found with the other Puritan colonies in the New England
Confederation.
2.31.1.1.2.1.4 CONNECTICUT
Connecticut, too, was formed as a migration from the Massachusetts colony, led by the Reverends Hooker and Stone.
The original settlements were along the Connecticut River at Hartford, Windsor and Wethersfield. New Haven was
settled separately, but all joined together as Connecticut, in 1662. A code of laws was drawn up, beginning with penal
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
146
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
laws, which were actually borrowed from the Bible. (Ref. 217 ([68])) Like Rhode Island, this colony’s history in this
century is bound to that of Massachusetts, in the Confederation.
2.31.1.1.2.2 MIDDLE COLONIES
This designation included New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania along with the small area of Delaware. By 1700
there were approximately 65,000 people in this group of settlements.
2.31.1.1.2.2.1 NEW YORK
In 1609 Henry Hudson sailed up the river bearing his name and by 1629 his Dutch people had settled New Amsterdam
at the mouth of the river, using a Dutch Company charter. The famous purchase of Manhattan Island from the Wappinger Indian Confederacy for a few trinkets occurred in 1626. (Ref. 222 ([296])) The social structure was a type of
feudalism and the colony did not do well. By 1660 New Netherland had only 1/2 the population of Connecticut. The
Dutch traded with the Delaware Indians some, but then got into warfare at the future site of Esopus on the Hudson.
The Delawares then sold most of their land and moved to the Susquehanna Valley in Pennsylvania. In 1644, as a byproduct of a Dutch-English War, the Duke of York sailed into the New Amsterdam harbor with four English frigates
and took the city without a shot being fired. New York has never been racially or geographically homogeneous, even in
the beginning. The Jesuit Simon Le Moyne visited the area of future Syracuse in 1654, finding important salt deposits
there.
New York did not contribute to the defense of New England in their early troubles and the Duke of York pretty well
made his own laws and levied his own taxes. The province extended from Canada to the edge of Maryland and the
cost of administration was great.
In 1683 the Duke instructed his Irish governor, Colonel Thomas Dongan, to summon an assembly primarily for the
purpose of raising f unds. It met and enacted "The Charter of Liberties and Privileges", declaring that the assembly had
the supreme legislative authority and that no taxes were to be levied without its consent. Shortly thereaf ter, however,
the erstwhile Duke of York had become King James 11 and he promptly disallowed this declaration of rights and New
York became a royal province, with no assembly. With the subsequent banishment of King James, there was much
confusion in the colony and this was augmented by a combined French and Indian attack from the north, resulting in
the destruction of the town of Schenectady.
2.31.1.1.2.2.2 NEW JERSEY
The Duke of York originally gave New Jersey as a gift to two friends, George Carteret and Lord John Berkeley.
Philip Carteret, cousin of Sir George, came over from England to take possession in 1665. He gave a liberal grant of
political privileges - the best on the continent - to the few hundred Dutchmen and English Puritans who lived there. A
representative assembly first met in 1668. The situation became very complicated a few years later when there were
two Jersies - East New Jersey, with an assembly meeting at Elizabethtown and a West New Jersey, with an assembly
meeting at Salem or Burlington. Confusion in land titles for the next 75 years resulted from these conflicts. The
proprietors did not surrender their governmental powers to the crown until 1702.
2.31.1.1.2.2.3 PENNSYLVANIA
William Penn got the charter for Pennsylvania from Charles II in 1681 and brought over Quaker dissidents from
England, Wales, the Netherlands and France. The voyage took two months and one-third of his people died of smallpox, en route. (Ref. 222 ([296])) The Quakers, as we have noted previously, were a left wing Puritan sect founded by
George Fox in 1650. Penn established the city of Philadelphia in 1682, where some Swedes and Finns were already
settled. Germans of the Mennonite sect soon also arrived and settled, so that by 1700 Philadelphia had outstripped
New York City and was pushing Boston as a cultural center. Yellow fever killed 220 people in Philadelphia at the end
of the century. (Ref. 222 ([296]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
147
2.31.1.1.2.2.4 DELAWARE
The Swedish West India Company had established the small colony of New Sweden, centering on Fort Christina
on the site of present Wilmington, in 1638. This consisted of only 200 to 300 Swedes and Finns, but they brought
log construction and the log cabin to America. Peter Stuyvesant, of the New Netherland Colony, annexed this weak
Swedish settlement in 1655 so that when the Duke of York took over the Dutch possessions, this area became part of
that. William Penn later purchased the region from the Duke and for years it was called the "Three Lower Counties"
of Pennsylvania. The Charter of Privileges, which Penn brought back in 1699, allowed these three counties to have
their own assembly, but their governor was always the same as Pennsylvania’s. These three counties, however, were
the future state of Delaware. (Ref. 151 ([206]))
2.31.1.1.2.3 CHESAPEAKE BAY COLONIES
2.31.1.1.2.3.1 VIRGINIA
The first true and lasting settlement in the United States was made at Jamestown, off Chesapeake Bay, in 1607 by
Englishmen who, according to de Tocqueville (Ref. 217 ([68])), "were seekers of gold, adventurers without resources
and without character.”121 Existence in this nucleus of the Dominion of Virginia in the early days, was miserable.
Of the initial group, consisting of 104 men and boys, 51 died of disease and starvation within 6 months. Help from
Indians and the arrival of a supply ship saved the rest. That ship also brought 2 women and 5 Poles, who had been
recruited to begin the production of pitch, tar and turpentine. (Ref. 151 ([206])) In the end, however, salvation came
with the Indian crop, tobacco. (Ref. 39 ([60])) Between the years 1616 and 1624 Virginia was changed from a trading
post to more of a genteel, permanent community. There were several factors in this transition. One was tobacco, of
which Virginia exported some 50,000 pounds as early as 1618. A second factor was the institution of private property
and a third reason was political, in that English common law was in effect along with a representative assembly.
The Indians of the Tidewater at the time of the planting of the Jamestown colony were the powerful Powhatan Confederacy (Tsenacommacah). They were Algonquians, but Iroquois, Sioux and Muskogeans all lived close by. There
were rumors of blond, blue-eyed Indians to the south, but these were probably survivors from Raleigh’s lost colony
or shipwrecks. Although a century earlier Tsenacommacah may have had over 100,000 inhabitants, the population
was considerably less in this 17th century. The microparasites introduced by the visits of Verazzano, Menendez and
Raleigh had already done much of their destructive work. Contemporary writers accused the Powhatans of sacrificing
children, but this was a mistaken concept of the huskanaw, an initiation rite in which at the appropriate time children
were collected and sent to a designated spot in the woods, where for weeks they subsisted on a limited diet. Perhaps
some drugs and rigorous mental and physical ordeals were supervised by their priests, but they were not killed, although some of the weaker may have perished. The local chief at the time of the Jamestown founding was Powhatan,
whose daughter was the famous Pocahontas, captured in 1613 by Samuel Argall, to be used to influence the chief to
make peace. She married John Rolfe in 1614, visited England and died there in 1617, though her son Thomas survived.
Thomas Rolfe was not the only mestizo born from the white-Indian contact at Jamestown. (Ref. 267 ([321]))
The Virginia Company was reorganized in 1619 and a new leadership was established. Captain George Thorpe, a
pious Anglican, who had started to build a college in Jamestown, might have risen to leadership, but in 1622 Opechancanough, successor to Chief Powhatan, rebelled and massacred some 300 whites, burying an axe in Thorpe’s skull.
Thereafter the settlers waged a relentless war against the Indians, burning and pillaging their villages and cutting down
or carrying off their crops. This also gave the opportunity for capturing slaves, which the English, as the Spanish before them, did with enthusiasm, using them locally or sending them to Bermuda or Barbados. A treaty was negotiated
with the rebellious tribes in the Potomac River area in 1623. After a toast was drunken symbolizing eternal friendship,
the Chiskiack chief and his sons, advisers and followers totaling 200, abruptly dropped dead from poison and soldiers
put the remainder out of their misery. It was perhaps from this encounter that Captain William Tucker and his men
brought back 50 Indian "heads", presumably scalps, though somewhat more may have been included. The second and
last major conflict in the Tidewater was the 1644 massacre, plotted again by the aged Opechancanough, with more
than 500 colonists killed. One out of every 16 Virginians perished. (Ref. 267 ([321]))
121 Quotation
from page 30 of de Tocqueville (Ref. 217 ([68]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
148
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
In the meantime in 1624 Virginia had become a crown colony with a governor and council appointed by the king and
it was well governed and prospered. Although the Indians had grown and smoked tobacco for centuries, their variety
was too bitter for the whites and John Rolfe imported a new species from the West Indies and perfected a method of
curing it. This was the tobacco that was to be exported. The transplanted English soon imported or manufactured
locally their own wampum, the blue beads which had become standard trade items. An aboriginal canoe in 1624 was
worth 10,000 blue beads, a stack of mats brought 20,000.
The most serious Indian conflict in the latter half of the century was the fighting associated with Bacon’s rebellion.
Susquehannocks had moved into the Potomac area and although they at first were treated badly, Governor Berkeley
had them protected by scattered forts.
But whites continued to be killed, including the overseer at the plantation of Nathanial Bacon, Jr., so Bacon and
his neighbors denounced the governor for depending so much on the frontier forts and implied that he had a secret
interest in Indian trade. Bacon’s men surprised the Occanechees, who were allies of the Susquehannocks, burning and
capturing their fort and shooting or burning to death almost all the Indians. Hostilities flared all along the frontier and
Governor Berkeley finally in June of 1676, authorized a full campaign against the natives, with Bacon as commander.
When Bacon became sick and died, however, Berkeley regrouped and had Bacon’s followers executed and their
property confiscated. Although he then negotiated still another treaty with the Indians, the whites continued their
destruction so that by 1700 there were only approximately 1,400 aborigines left in the Tidewater. Near the end of the
century the depleted Powhatans were led by the good Queen of Pamunkey, who actually accepted a tributary status
to the whites. The English policy of encouraging tribal rivalries, of dividing and conquering, had succeeded. Farther
inland the Tuscarora, Cherokee and Seneca warriors, although possibly never seeing a white face, were well aware of
their presence in the Tidewater because of the commerce and the small-pox epidemics that reached them. (Ref. 267
([321]))
We should add a few final notes before we leave Virginia in this early colonial period. In 1609 "Martin’s Hundred" had
made a settlement at Walstenholme. It was actually larger than Jamestown, but it disappeared in an Indian massacre
and has only recently been excavated. The "dig" shows that the Englishmen were in full metal armor like medieval
knights and the heavy armor and a closed helmet hampered movement, restricted vision and muffled warning signs of
approaching enemies. It is no wonder they were no match for the Indians. (Ref. 102 ([147])) An interesting sidelight
is also to be found in recent recovered fragments from a 1619 shipwreck in Castle Harbor - 5 sherds of Roman pottery.
It was initially thought that these might have been picked up from old gravel beds along the Thames, used for ballast
pebbles in the ship, but experts have said definitely that the gravel did not come from the Thames. So, the riddle of
Roman pottery in Castle Harbor remains unsolved. (Ref. 103 ([148])) Could this have some bearing on Barry Fell’s
hypotheses about European visitors to the American hemisphere around the time of Christ? Finally we should note
that English ships brought the first black slaves to Virginia in 1619122 but in the first 40 years no more than 300 arrived
altogether. By the 1680s, however, they were brought in at the rate of 60,000 every decade. (Ref. 39 ([60])) In time
both Negro and Indian slavery assumed more and more importance in Virginia. Often young Indians were taken into
apprenticeships, but of ten the terms never expired and in essence it was still slavery. According to a 1669 law, foreign
- that is non-Virginian Indians - captured in war and those imported by sea and sold, were to remain slaves for life.
Governor Berkeley owned native slaves. A frequent reason for the hostilities with Indian enemies and allies, alike,
was the opportunity to capture slaves. Rather than peltry, they were the real plunder. The Indians them- selves kept
slaves and had severe punishments for runaways. They severed their Achilles tendons or cut off their toes and half of
their feet, carefully folding the skin over the stumps so that they would heal. The slaves could then work in the field,
but could hardly run away again.
2.31.1.1.2.3.2 MARYLAND
Maryland was a part of Virginia until 1632 when King Charles I gave a slice of that original colony to his friend,
Lord Baltimore (George Calvert of an old Yorkshire family). Baltimore died quickly, however, and his son got the
122 This is the date given by Alestair Cooke (Ref. 39 ([60])), but de Tocqueville, quoting Beverley’s History of Virginia, says the date was 1621.
(Ref. 217 ([68])), page 360
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
149
charter and administered Maryland from England. It was basically a Catholic colony and although named Maryland
ostensibly after Queen Henrietta Marie, it was in reality named in honor of the Virgin Mary. Tobacco was the one great
cash crop. Servants might be of any class from poor gentlemen working off the cost of transport, to convicted felons.
Many of the English sovereigns transported Scottish and Irish prisoners from the civil wars to Virginia and Maryland,
as well as to the West Indies. Negroes were also imported and in 1664 the Maryland assembly passed a "black code"
which declared each Negro to be a slave for life by virtue of his color. At all times during the century, except for a short
period in the 1650s, Catholics were the ruling class in this colony, although with increased immigration Protestants
became finally the overwhelming numerical majority. (Ref. 151 ([206]))
2.31.1.1.2.4 THE CAROLINAS
In this century the English began referring to the great land south of the James River as "Carolina". Going south
from the James, one had to go 500 miles to encounter another European settlement and that would be the Franciscan
mission at Port Royal Sound. Mississippian style villages with council houses or rotundas, plazas and fields of maize
were still present throughout that area. Lord Ashley (John Colleton, a Barbadian planter) received a Charter for the
Carolinas in 1963, but there was no settlement there until 1670, when Charleston was founded. Even then little was
accomplished until the Huguenots came in 1680. Those French formed, eventually, the aristocratic South Carolina
while North Carolina was settled by poor whites moving in from Virginia. The two Carolinas were not separated in
this 17th century, however.
The aborigines surrounding Charleston already had guns, which they had obtained from the Spaniards and even from
some Virginia traders. Some tribes, such as the Westos, were well armed, using more European weapons than bows
and arrows and they terrified their less well-armed neighbors at the time. They lived on the Savannah or Westo
River near present day Augusta, in part of the kingdom of the Cofitachique. Whether there was any connection
between the two tribes in uncertain. The Westos have now become extinct, apparently having been destroyed by the
Shawnees (Savannahs) who subsequently migrated westward again into Alabama, then northward into Kentucky and
the Ohio country and eventually to Oklahoma. Among a few others, the pack trains of Abraham Wood, working out
of Charleston, helped to supply the Westos with guns. He knew a great deal about the southern Indians, most of which
were tribes that were remnants of the Cusabo chiefdom. None were strong enough to protect themselves and they
looked to the English, the Spaniards or the Westos for protection. But Woodward felt that the Westos depended too
much on Virginia and, changing his alliances, he and other Carolinians resolved to exterminate the Westos and install
the Shawnees in their stead. (Ref. 267 ([321]))
A group of Indian fighters called the "Goose Creek men" then emerged and assumed more power in the colony.
Most of them were originally from Barbados, and at the end of the century one of them, James Moore, even became
governor. These men soon brought most of the southern aborigines into their commercial orbit, at the expense of
Spain, Virginia and later France. The Creeks, Shawnees (Savannahs), Cherokees and Yamasees usually could get
cheaper guns, hardware and clothing from Carolinians than from anyone else. Incited by the Goose Creek men, the
natives overran Spanish missions, burned chapels and sometimes the padres and carried off booty. First to fall were the
Guale missions and some of those in Timucua. Timucuan, Guale and Yamasee Indians lived in those missions which in
1670 had stretched north from St. Augustine to the Savannah River. Yamasees from both the coastal missions and the
Chattahoochee, for protection, began moving in large numbers closer to Charleston. Then the Goose Creek men began
to use the Yamasees to demolish missions in Guale and Timucua. The booty included silver plate, ornaments, peltry,
and especially slaves, all of which the Carolinians exchanged for guns, powder, hardware and textiles. Af ter white
contact, the Indians relied less on agriculture and hunted more, with young ones ranging hundreds of miles, some even
crossing the Mississippi River and covering more than 1,000 miles before returning home. (Ref. 267 ([321]))
Carolina, established relatively late, nevertheless soon had an Indian slave trade that overshadowed other mainland
colonies. In late century these normally came from the interior and were marched in large numbers to the coast for
sale to English purchasers. As in Africa, natives captured and sold natives. Westos, Savannahs, Lower Creeks and
Yamasees, among others, raided remote towns and brought their prisoners to Charleston. Incidentally, yellow fever
killed 150 people in Charleston in 1698. (Ref. 267 ([321]), 222 ([296])) Sometime during this century the London
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
150
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
Company started a settlement in what was to be South Carolina, which thrived on ambergris, a secretion from the
whale’s intestine that was to be found floating on the sea. It was used in perfumes. (Ref. 39 ([60]))
2.31.1.1.3 EXTRA-COLONIAL AREAS OF THE UNITED STATES
2.31.1.1.3.1 THE SOUTHEAST
Spain began establishing her second great mission system in the province of Apalachee after 1630, well after the
founding of Jamestown. By the 1670s some 20 smaller missions radiated from the principal one at San Luis (Tallahassee) and a road connected that province with St. Augustine. Still Spain’s grasp on the area was weak and the
garrisons averaged only 300 to 400 men and even these were not the flower of the Spanish army. They were greatly
outnumbered by the surrounding natives and, as we have noted in the preceding section, these were of ten encouraged
to attack by the Carolinians. The priests did make many converts, however, and since the cross had long been one of
the symbols of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex, the padres reported that the Indians fervently came forward to
kiss the newly erected cross. Even as early as the preceding century Franciscans had learned the tongue of the Timucuan and Apalachee and that knowledge helped preserve much information about those peoples. Some Timucuans and
other natives were actually reading, writing and singing in Castilian, as well as writing in their own language. But the
missionaries could also be cruel and they whipped Indians who missed Mass, forcing them to be porters transporting
goods some 200 miles from St. Augustine without pay, among other penalties. It is no wonder that they could easily
be influenced to revolt. (Ref. 267 ([321]))
Because of the fear of the French in Louisiana, Spain had a mission on the Neches River in 1690 and later a garrison
at Pensacola, Florida. Even so Florida remained sparsely populated. There were droves of wild pigeons, parrots and
other birds, so that many boats came away loaded with birds and their eggs. (Ref. 260 ([29]))
2.31.1.1.3.2 THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER REGION AND LOUISIANA
The French explorer Jean Nicolet, who had lived among the Hurons since Champlain’s expedition of 1618, explored
the Lake Michigan and Wisconsin regions in 1634. (Ref. 222 ([296])) Courcelles and Frontenac explored farther in the
Great Lakes regions in - 1671 which was about the same time that Robert Cavelier de La Salle made some preliminary
investigations down in the headwaters of the Mississippi River. In the following year Jacques Marquette explored the
region around Chicago and a few years later, with Father Louis Jolliet, went down the Mississippi to the Arkansas
tributary. (Ref. 131 ([182]))
We noted above, in the section on Canada (p. 142), that La Salle obtained some permits from the French crown to
continue studies of the Mississippi. He and his party left Fort Frontenac (Kingston, Ontario) in the fall of 1678 and
after some backtracking, failure to get more funds from the French king and other troubles, La Salle and his trusted
aid De Tonty arrived at the Miamis River in November, 1681 with a party of 23 Frenchmen, 18 savages, Abenakis123 ,
and Loups, 10 Indian women and 3 children. They reached the Mississippi in February 1682 and on their course down
river first fell in with the Chickasaw Indians, who practiced the flattening of the heads of their children. They reached
the Gulf of Mexico on April 7, 1682 and formally took possession in the name of Louis XIV.
Some of the adventures and hardships experienced by La Salle’s company on its trip down the Mississippi are best
taken from La Salle’s own Memoirs, as translated in 1844 by Falconer (Ref. 63 ([93])). La Salle wrote that he
undertook the trip to satisfy the wish of the late Monseigneur Colbert, finance minister of France, of finding a port
where the French might establish themselves and harass the Spaniards in those regions from where they derived all
their wealth. He described the mouth of the Mississippi by saying that the coast and the banks were overflowed for
more than 20 leagues above the mouth, making it inaccessible by land. He told of an assembly of more than 18,000
Indians of various nations, some of whom had come from a distance of more than 2,000 leagues (probably 600 to 700
miles) to throw themselves "into his arms". Because these Indians had already carried on war against the Spaniards,
even without firearms, La Salle felt that it would be possible to form an army of more than 15,000 savages who would
123 La Saile differentiated "savages" from Abenakis. The latter were also called Abnakis and MicMacs, of the Algonquin group. Their apparent
differences from the other natives are of interest with respect to Fell’s concepts recorded on page 269.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
151
follow him to attack the adjacent provinces where there were not more than 400 native Spanish. He was apparently
speaking of New Bisca, the most northern province of Mexico. He strongly advised the French crown to consider
settling the Mississippi mouth region because "-firstly, the service of God may be established there by the preaching
of the Gospel to numerous docile and settled nations–. They have already temples and a form of worship." He added
that provinces which might be seized were very rich in silver mines; that the river itself was navigable for more than a
100 leagues for ships and 500 leagues for barks and overall for more than 800 miles from east to west.
Concerning the trip down the river, itself, the following information has been taken from writings of both La Salle and
the Cavalier Henry de Tonty, as translated again by Falkoner. (Ref. 63 ([93])) La Salle actually made 5 voyages under
extraordinary hardships, extending over more than 5,000 leagues, most commonly on foot, through snow and water,
almost without rest over 5 years. He traversed more than 600 leagues of unknown country among many barbarous
and cannibalistic nations, against whom he was obliged to fight almost daily, although he was accompanied by only
38 men. Many of the various tribes he encountered lived in settled villages consisting of hundreds of cabins, of ten
made of mud, with cane mats. In one such village the cabin of the chief was 40 feet square, the walls 10 feet high
and 1 foot thick, with a 15 feet high, dome-shaped roof. The chief was seated on a camp bed with 3 of his wives and
more than 60 old men, clothed in large white cloaks of mulberry bark were present. Sieur de Tonty was told that when
the chief dies, his youngest wife, his house-steward and 100 men accompany him into the other world. In one village
of the Natchez, there were more than 300 warriors. De Tonty contrasts these lower Mississippi people with those in
Illinois- who lived in some of the finest lands he had ever seen. He said the Illinois Indians were brave but extremely
lazy, except in war, when they think nothing of seeking their enemies at a distance of 600 leagues. Polygamy prevailed
there also.
Finally La Salle’s application to form a colony on the south of the Mississippi was authorized and this time he approached from the sea in the summer of 1684, with 4 vessels. Unfortunately, after passing Cuba they inadvertently
missed the river and finally landed in what appears to have been Matagora Bay. La Salle built a fort there, left 130
men to man it and then left in March, 1685 with another 50 men to find the Mississippi. Still not locating his goal, he
built another fort on a river he named "Vaches" and abandoning the first fort, 70 men, women and children moved to
this new place. But 30 of his company had died and the master carpenter had been lost. Still this second fort had more
people than the colony of Smith of Virginia or of those who embarked in the Mayflower. This was the settlement on
which France based claims that Texas was a part of Louisiana.
While La Salle’s ship Belle sailed along the coast with his papers and equipment, he took 20 men and started overland,
still seeking the Mississippi delta. He returned in 4 months but the Belle had apparently been lost. The leader then
selected 20 men to accompany him back to Canada overland, leaving the fort on April 22, 1686. He became ill on the
Trinity River, however, and had to return to Vaches. There then remained about 40 of the original 180 people, who had
landed in Texas. La Salle again started north in January of 1687 only to be assassinated along with some of his most
faithful followers, by a group of 4 disgruntled Frenchmen, at Navasoto, Texas. A few of the party eventually reached
St. Louis, where De Tonty was found. In the spring of 1686 he had sailed down the Mississippi and, reaching the sea,
had sent canoes east and west, vainly seeking his old companion and friend. The few survivors left in Texas from La
Salle’s expedition were subsequently either captured by Indians or by Spaniards, and taken to Mexico. (Ref. 63 ([93]),
39 ([60]))
The failure of this expedition did not deter the French government in its pursuit of Gulf settlement. In 1697 the
Canadian D’lberville sailed down the Mississippi and with other voyages planted a colony which he left in charge of
his brother Bienville. The brave and generous De Tonty joined D’lberville at the mouth of the Mississippi about the
year 1700. (Ref. 63 ([93])) This was at about the same time that Cadillac was founding a fort at Detroit in the north.
2.31.1.1.3.3 THE SOUTHWEST
Governor Don Juan de Onate set up the first Spanish government in the southwest at Santa Fe, 10 years before
the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts. For the next 200 years Spanish outposts in Arizona, Texas, California and
New Mexico slowly developed an economy. The Spanish introduced 2 indispensable elements in the life of western
America - the horse and the cow. The horse, originally terrifying the Indians, eventually set them free from Mexico to
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
152
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
the Canadian tundra. The Spanish also left the whole heraldry of ranching in the language - corral, mesa, arroya, patio,
adobe, mustang, sombrero, desperado, poncho, alfalfa, bronco, lariat and others. (Ref. 39 ([60])) By 1630 there were
1,000 people in Santa Fe and the immediate area, including 250 garrisoned soldiers. There were 50 friars distributed
in 90 villages, each with their own church.
Trouble between civil and church authorities was not long in appearing. By 1680 the population in the area had
increased to 2,800 and there were towns at Pecos, Taos, Santa Cruz, San Marcos, etc. but all were evacuated when
an Indian revolt of Zuni, Hopi, Tano and Keres Indians, under Pope’, revolted. Some 2,000 refugees reached El Paso.
Pope’ made himself governor, but his bad reign and a long drought led to disarray, allowing recapture of this area of
present day New Mexico and western Texas by Diego de Vargas rather easily in 1692. (Ref. 198 ([287]), 83 ([123]))
Alonso de Leon had established a mission at San Francisco de los Tejas, near the Neches River in 1690, but it was
abandoned in 1693. (Ref. 198 ([287])) Father Eusebio Kino visited the Pima Indians on the Gila River in southern
Arizona in 1697 and, finding them friendly, he established a mission near present day Tucson, in 1700. The Pima were
experts with bow and arrow and had war clubs and rawhide shields. (Ref. 38 ([59]))
2.31.1.1.3.4 THE FAR WEST
The Great Plains and the far west were certainly moderately populated with many and varied Indian tribes in this
century, but in the absence of contact with whites little accurate information is available. The reader is referred to the
l8th and l9th centuries.
2.31.2 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN
Already Mexican Society was divided into several classes based chiefly on race and color. First there were the Indians,
living primarily in their villages under the rule of the caciques, with their numbers greatly dwindled. The second
class was the Creoles, a white population born in Mexico and descendants of the conquistadores. Next were the
Mestizos, who were half -breeds, half Indian and half white and finally the Gachupines, natives of Spain sent over
for administration. Instead of being incorporated into Spanish civilization the Indians regarded all white men as
their enemies and the Creole landowners encroached on the Indian villages’ land. Government attempts to protect
the Indians were foiled by corrupt officials and Indian ignorance of the law. (Ref. 167 ([226])) The few remaining
primitive Chichimec Indians of the north Mexican desert were still being hunted and run to earth "like wild animals".
(Ref. 260 ([29]))
The decay of the Spanish Empire in Europe did not enable the Creoles to usurp powers of self-government, however,
because they were themselves victims of the Gachupin bureaucracy. This bureaucracy tapped the wealth produced by
the labor of the native population. On the surface all was peace, passivity and decay, but explosive forces were slowly
developing. Communications remained primitive; there were no roads; and Mexican industry was suppressed in part
because of jealousy of the Spanish merchants. Mexico was unable to develop any native commercial class.
The drop in the Indian population of Mexico in just 5 or 6 generations was almost unbelievable although the exact figures are still being debated. Tannahill (Ref. 211 ([284])) says that by 1605 central Mexico had only 1,075,000 people,
down from 25,000,000 at the time of Cortez and that the decrease was due to war, economic upheaval, exploitation and
new diseases, representing one of the most comprehensive human catastrophes of the world. The deliberate encouragement of alcohol in the forms of pulque and mezcal among the Indians must also have been a deteriorating factor.
State revenue from pulque in New Spain was equal to one-half the revenue from the silver mines. (Ref. 260 ([29]))
William McNeill (Ref. 140 ([190])) writes that the entire population of Mexico was, at 1,600,000 in 1620, a 90% drop
with drastic psychological and cultural consequences. Faith in established institutions and belief s cannot withstand
such disaster and skills and knowledge disappear. Thus, it was easy for the Spaniards to transfer their language and
culture to the New World.
Masses of goods were shipped from Seville to Central - America and the responsible merchants expected to be paid in
silver bullion. In 1637 there were allegedly heaps of silver wedges lying in the street in Porto Belo, Panama. Most of
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
153
this, of course, had been brought up from the Potosi mines of South America. (Ref. 292 ([28])) The silver was landed
at the port of Panama and then moved by mules and boats (on the Chagres River) across the isthmus to Porto Belo
on the Caribbean. But the muleteers and boatmen had to be fed maize, which itself was imported from Nicaragua or
Chile. The year 1626 was a barren year and 100 to 150 tons of maize had to be obtained from Peru to keep the silver
going. (Ref. 260 ([29])) The Welch buccaneer, Henry Morgan, captured Panama City in a treaty violation with Spain,
but although at first put on trial, he eventually was made Lt. Governor of Jamaica and put in charge of ending piracy.
(Ref. 222 ([296])) In 1695 the Spanish started to build a road from Campeche to Guatemala and encountered many
ancient buildings on deserted, overgrown terraces, the remnants of the previous Indian civilizations. (Ref. 205 ([276]))
Yucatec-speaking Indians, fleeing disease and general disruption, went from the rain forests of Guatemala, with their
bows and arrows into the region of Chiapas, Mexico, where they were subsequently known as the "Lacandon Maya".
(Ref. 283 ([217]))
The society of New Spain was dominated by the clerical heirarchy. Beneath an archbishop were 8 other bishops and
members of the Inquisition. The Indians became Catholics while still remaining pagan; the clergy rapidly became
degenerate, while growing richer. The ideal of the New World Church - or at least that of many of its clergy - was a
despotic government, a privileged priesthood and an ignorant laity. (Ref. 166 ([225]))
Every European major power was interested in the "sugar islands" of the Caribbean and there were many possessions
and trading of island territories between Spain, France, England and Holland. (Ref. 8 ([14])) The Dutch had brought
the cane from Brazil when they were expelled from Recife in 1654 and it soon reached Martinique, Guadeloupe,
Dutch Curacao, Jamaica and Santo Domingo. After 1685 production showed an uninterrupted increase and this sugar
production required a tremendous labor force, this resulting in the black slave importation. But cane left little space
for food crops and edibles had to be imported from Europe or North America. The same could be said about the lack
of skilled craftsmen and engineers124 . Even nails and boilers for the sugar mills had to be brought from Europe. (Ref.
260 ([29]), 292 ([28]))
England established colonies on Bermuda in 1612, Barbados in 1627, and Jamaica in 1655. By 1676 some 400 ships,
each carrying about 180 tons of sugar, left Jamaica.
By 1690 there were an estimated 40,000 slaves on that island, working the sugar estates and their revolts and desertions
resulted in almost continuous military action throughout the last decades of this century. (Ref. 249 ([98])) The British
from Bermuda began settling the Bahamas in mid-century but were subject to pirate raids by Spanish and French and
they did not establish real sovereignty until late in the next century. (Ref. 274 ([20])) It was not until 1680 that sugar
spread to the western half of the island of St. Domingue, which had been French until the middle of the century.
By this century the Caribbean Taino Indians were extinct and the African slaves took the places of these vanishing
Americans, perhaps in part because they were resistant to malaria. This disease arrived in the Gulf area after 1650,
with the imported Africans. The first epidemic of yellow fever occurred in Guadeloupe and St. Kitts in 1635 and in
Yucatan and Havana in 1648 after the Aedes Aegypti mosquito had voyaged over on ships from Africa. As a result
of these diseases even the whites decreased in numbers or disappeared as the blacks increased. (Ref. 150 ([205]),
140 ([190])) Overall perhaps as many as 340,000 black slaves were brought from Africa in this century alone. (Ref.
213 ([288]), 160 ([219])) Settlement in these West Indies was for a long time more extensive than on the American
mainland, however, and by 1700 there were 121,000 inhabitants in this area.
2.31.3 SOUTH AMERICA
2.31.3.1 NORTHERN AND WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA
Even at the beginning of this 17th century the Spanish were continuing to search for "Eldorado, the Land of Gold", but
up to the early decades, except for a few nuggets of gold, a fairly good supply of emeralds and some cinnamon, there
was little to show for the century of exploration. The entire west coast of the continent had been explored, however,
and the foundations had been laid for every one of the 20 republics of Central and South America, excepting Argentina.
124 These
were also lacking in colonial America. (Ref. 292 ([28]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
154
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
In one generation the Spaniards had acquired more territory than Rome conquered in 5 centuries-and the Spaniards
organized and administered all that they conquered. (Ref. 151 ([206])) The Spanish New World was first divided
into two great viceroyalties of Nueva Espana (Mexico) and Peru, to which La Plata (Argentina and Chile) and Nueva
Granada (Columbia and Venezuela) were later added. Portuguese traders had infiltrated all of Spanish America. Even
in a town like Santiago, Chile, with 10,000 people, one could find a Portuguese merchant. They often also doubled as
bankers and occasionally, as in Potosi in 1634, public opinion accused them of being "new Christians" or even Jews
and subsequent Inquisition trials put an end to their property. (Ref. 292 ([28]))
By 1650 Potosi, in Bolivia, was the largest city in South America, with 160,000 people, with Indian peasants forced to
work in the great silver mines under extreme hardship conditions. (Ref. 175 ([241])) The South American Indians felt
that they could not work or go on trips without chewing the coca leaf mixed with ground lime. Containing cocaine,
this half-stimulant and half-narcotic does deaden fatigue, pain, and hunger and facilitates breathing at high altitudes.
The terrible effects of widespread use of the purified drug, however, are now becoming all too obvious in the United
States. (Ref. 211 ([284])) It is not well known, but statistics from the archives of the Peruvian viceroyalty show that at
least 300,000 Africans were brought into Peru in this century. By that time the number of native Indians had fallen to
700,000 so one may judge the impact of this importation of blacks. The lowlands of Ecuador and Colombia had also
been Africanized to an unknown degree. In the highlands of the Andes, however, any African traits are ancient and
from tropical Asiatic (Melanesian or Australoid) fringes or even of ancient Atlantic crossings by Africans.
2.31.3.2 EASTERN AND CENTRAL SOUTH AMERICA
Only in this century did the Portuguese finally win tremendous areas in the New World. Economic and political power
was concentrated in the hands of great plantation owners in Brazil. By 1623 there were 350 sugar plantations in that
country and 25 years later there were 150,000 to 200,000 civilized people, with 3/4 being Indian, Negroes or "Mixed".
The state of Maranhao was created and Jesuit missions were established along the Amazon. In 1635 the Dutch invaded
and occupied the whole northern part of Brazil and a little later they wrested the whole Gold Coast from Portugal. They
were thrown out in 1654, but in the meantime, the locals had learned a great deal about sugar production from the
Dutch. At the end of the century slaving operations in the interior of Brazil were being resisted by the Jesuits, who
tried to protect the Indians.
Gold was found in 1690 in the central region of Minas Gerais, today one of the richest states in Brazil. A few years
later diamonds were also found in the same region. (Ref. 175 ([241])) As in Central America, malaria arrived with the
African Negro and yellow fever came only slightly later. (Ref. 140 ([190]), 222 ([296]), 134 ([184]))
In central South America, east of the Andes, and in the more temperate southern zone were wide open lands suitable
for sheep and cattle breeders. The original Gauchos, who were mixed Spanish and Indian and almost entirely lawless,
preyed on those cattle, simulating in many respects the old nomads of central Asia of a thousand years earlier. (Ref.
211 ([284])) Since indigenous animals were few in what later became Argentina, the empty countryside was soon filled
with European horses and cattle, which banded in wild herds across the great pampas and so existed until the 1 9th
century. The Indians had some of those horses, too, so that the natives of Argentina and particularly the Araucanians
of Chile continued to be tough adversaries for another two centuries. (Ref. 260 ([29]))
Paraguay was founded by Jesuits in 1608. (Ref. 222 ([296])) It is of some interest that the first Europeans to sail
around Cape Horn, instead of through the Strait of Magellan, were the Dutchmen Willem Corneliszoon Schouten and
Jacob Le Maire and the cape was named after the former’s birthplace, Hoorn. They were en route to Indonesia in
1615. (Ref. 134 ([184]))
Forward to America: A.D. 1701 to 1800 (Section 2.32)
Choose Different Region
1. Intro to Era125
2. Africa (Section 1.31)
125 "A.D.
1601 to 1700" <http://cnx.org/content/m17728/latest/>
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
155
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.31)
Europe (Section 4.31)
The Far East (Section 6.31)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.31)
The Near East (Section 7.31)
Pacific (Section 8.31)
2.32 America: A.D. 1701 to 1800126
2.32.1 AMERICA
Back to America: A.D. 1601 to 1700 (Section 2.31)
2.32.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
2.32.1.1.1 CANADA AND THE FAR NORTH
When Vitus Bering found the strait which bears his name he also explored the Aleutian chain of islands and the Alaska
shores, living on sea otters and starting a new fur trade. By 1745 ruthless Russian hunters were established on Attu
Island, where they killed all male Aleuts and took their women. Later, however, they found that they had to keep
Aleut males to help them hunt the otters in their ulluxtadags (similar to Eskimo kayaks) with harpoons and they then
merged and lived together with the Aleuts. In 1784 Grigorii Shelekhov established a settlement on Kodiak Island and
founded what became the Russian-American Company. They obtained otter and seal pelts, using 7,200 Aleuts to hunt
full-time and taking 300 others as hostages to ensure work from the first group. This broke up the Aleut families and
then disease appeared, so that in the two generations at the end of the century, the Aleut population fell by nearly
two-thirds. (Ref. 234 ([311]), 199 ([272])) Shelekhov was followed by Alexander Baranov, who greeted British ships
and found English, American and even a few Spanish skippers had been trading for furs some 1,100 miles south. In
1799 he sailed along the shore with 450 two-man kayaks to establish a colony on Baranov Island, just 6 miles above
a Tlingits Indian stronghold at what is now Sitka, Alaska. Those Tlingits had inhabited the lower coastal area of the
Alaskan panhandle for a long period and had a high culture, living in gabled lodges housing a dozen families and
producing canoes holding 60 men. One of their better known features were their 50 feet tall totem poles. North of the
Tlingits were the Eskimoes along the Arctic shoreline living, as the Aleuts on the islands, by hunting chiefly seals and
walruses. In central Alaska were the Athabascan Indians, bearing no cultural resemblance to the coastal people. They
are linguistic cousins of the Apaches and Navajos and lived in small nomadic bands in bare simplicity, existing chiefly
on the caribou. They did create the snow-shoe to facilitate getting about in deep snow. (Ref. 234 ([311])) Additional
Notes (p. 171)
By 1745 when the Russians were already well established in the Aleutians, the English had only a handful of isolated
trading posts west of Hudson Bay. (Ref. 8 ([14])) On the west coast of Canada, Don Juan Francisco de la Bodega
sailed the "Sonora" beyond the 56th degree latitude and examined the coast belonging to Russia,- which is now the
upper of British Columbia. Then in 1778 while Captain Cook was sailing up the coast to reach the Aleutians, he
incidentally discovered Nootka sound on Vancouver Island. Spanish historians claim, however, that Juan Perez had
discovered this sound previously in 1774.
On the Atlantic side, in 1711 Britain attempted to take French Quebec and Canada, by sending seven regiments of
Marlborough’s best, along with 1,500 colonials into the St. Lawrence. Ten of their ships were sunk and the expedition
f ailed. The war in Europe ended 2 years later, however, and France’s position in southeastern Canada was greatly
weakened by the Treaty of Utrecht, which terminated the War of the Spanish Succession, or Queen Anne’s war, as it
was called in America. (Ref. 222 ([296])) France lost Newfoundland,
126 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17801/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
156
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
Nova Scotia and the Hudson Bay area to England and Canada as a whole was impoverished.
While thousands of sturdy Germans, French, Protestant Scots, etc., were pouring into the English colonies, the government of Louis XV allowed only a mere trickle to go to Canada. The population of Canada in 1713 was only 18,119,
although this had doubled by 1734. In the 30 years after 1713 the French spent $6,000,000 in gold building a fortress
on Cape Breton Island, which menaced English fisheries, but was useless in war time. They also built forts on Lake
Champlain, at Niagara Falls and two on the Wabash. In 1744 the War of Jenkins’ Ear with Spain merged into the War
of the Austrian Succession (King George’s War in America) in which England and Austria were allies against France
and Prussia. The French and their Indian allies raided New England and the Iroquois raided Canada. The Treaty of
Aix-la-Chapelle ended that war, with France retaining the Louisburg fort on Cape Breton Island. In mid-century the
English settlers in Nova Scotia fought with the local French Acadians and the latter were deported in mass some 6,000
to 7 ,000 strong. Some ended up in Louisiana to became the "Cajuns". (Ref. 68 ([106]))
The Seven Years War in Europe spilled over into the f inal French and Indian War in America (1755-1763) and the
Peace of Paris signed the death knoll for France in America. (Ref. 119 ([166])) Quebec had fallen in 1759 and
Montreal in 1760. (Ref. 8 ([14])) The French people in southern Canada, however, continued a self-consciousness
and intolerance, with their grievances carrying on to the present time. This was in spite of the fact that the British
government, by the Quebec Act of 1774 guaranteed the French settlers free exercise of their religion, language and
law (Old French civil law), as well as expanding the boundaries of the new Canadian colony to the Mississippi and
Ohio rivers. This, incidentally, was interpreted as harmful to Virginia and Pennsylvania and was one factor, along with
the Coercive Acts, in lighting the fuse for revolution in the lower thirteen colonies. (Ref. 8 ([14])) Actually the British
were not overjoyed with their conquest and tried to trade Canada back to the French, soon, in exchange for the island
of Guadeloupe. *** (Page 1201)
Map taken from Reference 97.
The Canadian northwest was opened by Scottish merchants in slender canoes and by the French voyageurs. The fur
trade reached its zenith in the 1790s. Montreal was the chief supply center with great loads of supplies leaving in
flotillas of 30 some canoes, each 40 feet long and carrying 8 to 10 voyageurs. They would travel 1,600 miles, up the
Ottowa River, then down the French River into Georgian Bay and the North Channel of Lake Huron, across Sault
Ste. Marie into Lake Superior, then across the Grand Portage to the Pigeon River. In the western part of the route the
canoes were a little shorter, at 25 feet, but they still carried 6 to 8 men and 1 ⇠ tons of cargo, while drawing only 18
inches of water. These northmen were French or mixed French-Indian and were small, not over 5’5" in height. They
traveled on smooth water at 4 miles per hour, sometimes for 16 hours a day. Sled dogs and Indian wives completed
their necessities. (Ref. 212 ([285]))
In 1791 Parliament passed the Canada Act, dividing the region into Upper and Lower Canada, this roughly corresponding to English and French areas, respectively. For a quarter of a century there was peace. The Canadian Pacific coast
had been ⇠ailed in the 1780s and in 1792 Captain George Vancouver explored and surveyed the region now bearing
his name. Alexander Mackenzie went overland to the Pacific in 1793 as the first European to cross this continent,
coast to coast. His route was by canoe west from Lake Athabasca, up the Pease River, portage across the Rockies to
the Parsnip, then the Fraser, Blackwater and Bella Coola rivers, in turn, to the Pacific. (Ref. 212 ([285])) He used
Pemmican (Cree name for "fat") as part of his food supply. This was made by drying thin-sliced, lean meat over a fire,
then pounding it to shreds and mixing it with an almost equal amount of melted fat, along with some marrow and a few
handfuls of wild cherries (later currants or sugar were used), after which it was packed in rawhide sacks tightly sewed
and sealed with tallow. This food supplied adequate calories for survival. An additional travel food was a dried corn
meal pancake called "Johnnycake". (Ref. 211 ([284])) By 1800 trappers and traders had crisscrossed the continent
many times. (Ref. 68 ([106]))
At the last of the century Spain was at war with Great Britain and in 1789 the Spanish Captain Martinez siezed 4
British ships in Nootka sound. This started a year’s dispute terminated by a convention of October, 1790 in which it
was agreed that all had a right to navigating and fishing in the Pacific and of making settlements there, but the British
should not do so within 10 leagues of any coastal area already occupied by Spain.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
157
Because of the warm Japan Current, much of the Canadian western coast land (and adjacent islands) is warm, with
great forests and rivers teeming with salmon. The Haida, Kwakiutl and Bella Coola Indians lived too easily there and
had so much leisure time that they could create great native civilizations, with a culture expressed in wood-working,
including magnificently carved totem poles, some SO feet high and lodges as large as 3,000 square feet. They had
sea-gray canoes holding 50 men. (Ref. 212 ([285])) (See pages 269,374 and 568)
Meanwhile in the far eastern North American region, Danish missionaries and traders had brought fabrics, implements
and some new foods to the Greenland Eskimos. Although the latter kept their old customs of using kayaks and
harpoons for seal hunts, they now used guns for killing caribou. They lived in communal houses of stone and turf.
(Ref. 288 ([231]))
2.32.1.1.2 THE UNITED STATES
2.32.1.1.2.1 AREA OF ORIGINAL 13 COLONIES (AND FLORIDA)
The eastern colonies had 250,000 people at the beginning of this century. By 1750, including the 100,000 Negro
slaves, the colonies were almost one-third as populous as England itself. (Ref. 8 ([14])) By 1776 the population
had increased to about 2 1/2 million. Patterns of migration changed during the century, with Scotch, Welch, Irish,
Germans and Dutch arriving in ever increasing numbers. Some Scandinavians, Swiss, Belgians and French signed
terms of indenture by the thousands in order to get to America. The mixture by 1763 has been estimated at 50%
English, 18% Scotch and Scotch-Irish, 18% African, 6% German and 3% Dutch, thus already a "melting pot". (Ref.
68 ([106])) Europe had no need for food products from the colonies, such as grain, meat and butter so these things
were sold to the Caribbean and the bills of exchange so obtained were used for purchasing manufactured items from
the British Isles. It was different with tobacco and even by 1723 some 200 ships carried 30,000 kegs a year to England,
where it was re-exported to northern Europe. (Ref. 260 ([29])) Gradually a few other products were shipped directly
across the Atlantic. Just before the American Revolution, South Carolina sent more than a million pounds of indigo to
England. (Ref. 39 ([60]))
By 1733 there were 13 colonies but each had its own government, currency, trade laws and religious ways, so that they
were actually like 13 nations. The middle colonies produced the most flexible societies, giving birth to the first real
cities, with business men and ports and trades and yet were basically agrarian. The plantar society of the south was a
fluid aristocracy, open to labor and talent, while New England was controlled by a Puritan oligarchy. (Ref. 39 ([60]))
New colleges were built at Princeton127 and what are now known as Columbia and University of Pennsylvania. The
first American newspaper was published in Boston in April, 1704. (Ref. 218 ([69])) New York state was hampered in
land expansion because of the Iroquois Confederacy land and it was only in 6th place in population as late as 1760.
Boston ladies imitated the manners of the court of King James and all colonials were concerned with social status.
Virginia society became stabilized with brave gallants, fair women, horse races and fox hunting. There was no middle
class there because if one was white he was either of first family or a frontiersman. The colonies had rum distilleries,
using molasses from the Indies and there was an iron industry in Virginia, in spite of English laws forbidding this,
in 1750. By 1775 there were more furnaces and forges in the colonies than in England and Wales together. A most
serious handicap was the English restriction on colonial use of money, forbidding the export of English coin to the
colonies and prohibiting any local mint coinage. As a result the locals used Spanish milled dollars, or "pieces of eight",
and paper money and bills of credit. In every colony south of Maryland, Negro slaves outnumbered white servants by
1720 and the proportion of blacks continued to increase. In Virginia in 1756 there were 120,156 Negroes out of a total
population of 293,474. There were some slave insurrections, the chief one being the Cato Conspiracy in 1739. (Ref.
151 ([206]))
As an American aspect of the War of the Spanish Succession at the beginning of the century, fighting developed
between Carolinians and their Chickasaw allies against the Spanish in Pensacola, and locally this was called "Queen
Anne’s War". The Goose Creek men that we met in the last chapter continued their mischief in the l8th century. In
1704 the Barbadian, James Moore, and 50 Goose Creek men led 1,000 Creeks, Yamasees and Apalachicolas against
127 This
college was originally at Newark under Presbyterian auspices and was moved to Princeton in 1756. (Ref. 222 ([296]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
158
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
the province of Apalachee. Missions and Franciscans alike were burned and Moore returned to Carolina boasting of
having 4,000 women and children as slaves and an additional 1,300 who voluntarily joined with him. In addition, he
killed or enslaved 325 men, not including the captives taken by his Indian allies. Perhaps 200 Apalachees escaped and
f led westward to Mobile, where French padres put them in new missions and a few sought refuge near St. Augustine.
Moore and his Creeks and Yamasees charged on into Florida, ravaging Timucuans, burning their towns, plundering
livestock and taking captives. Pensacola, 500 miles south of Charleston, suffered a similar fate and even the Keys
were attacked by the Indians in canoes. Unable to protect them because of involvement in Queen Anne’s War, Spain
shipped hundreds of the Florida Indians, including the remnants of the Calusas and Tequetas, Apalachees, Guales and
Timucuans, to Cuba. (Ref. 267 ([321]))
In the meantime Carolina had some Indian troubles of its own. The Tuscaroras, of Iroquoian stock, occupied much of
North Carolina’s Tidewater and they had been traditional enemies of the Algonquian tribes. Probably because white
colonists were allying themselves with the latter, the Tuscarora suddenly turned on the whites in 1711. For 2 years full
scale war raged with the Tuscarora fighting both the colonists and some of the Algonquian tribes, who were supplied
by Virginia and North and South Carolina authorities. Finally some 1,000 Tuscaroras were taken captive and sold. In
19714 a still more destructive war erupted, one somewhat erroneously called "the Yamasee War". Actually there were
many natives in addition to the Yamasee, including Lower Creeks, Guales, Apalachees, Savannahs, Cherokees, Yuchis,
Cheraws, Catawbas, Waterees and Waccamaws who attacked the whites. Some played greater roles than others. Many
of these tribes were components of the old Chiefdom of Cofitachiqui and in a way this was the native response to the
commercial empire of the Goose Creek men. Losses on both sides were high - 400 colonists perished, some 6% of
the white population. On the Indian side, many of the participating tribes simply became extinct. Port Royal remained
deserted for years. Generally disorganized, the colonists revolted against proprietary rule in 1719 and claimed South
Carolina a royal colony.
Even before their war on the colonists in 1711 the Tuscaroras were the most powerful nation in the North Carolina
Tidewater and for years they had fallen on their weaker neighbors and sold captives to the Virginians and North
Carolinians. Slave raids, wars and especially diseases eventually swept away almost all Timucuans, Appalachees,
Tequestas and eventually even the Yamasees. Some Lower Creeks remained in Florida, destroying and mixing with
aboriginal remnants of other tribes and by the latter third of the 18th century - these Indians became known as Seminoles. The Creek Chief Cowkeeper, who settled in the Gainesville region, according to some, is the progenitor of the
Seminole nation. (Ref. 267 ([321])) (See also page 1015)
Europeans customarily branded slaves and this was carried on in the United States. In 1716 commissioners in charge
of the Carolina Indian trade sent branding irons to agents in the back country to mark deerskins and captives, alike.
The latter were marked on the face, shoulder or arm. Through this 18th century tens of thousands of southern Indians
were enslaved and most of these were women and children. Indians worked for whites as wage laborers, tilling fields,
rounding up cattle and as domestics, hunters and artisans. pamunkey women worked as maids. Many female Indian
servants murdered their offspring, either to escape a whipping, an increased period of service or perhaps just to keep
their children from growing up in an alien world. The men sometimes carried peltry for 200 or even 500 miles for the
Goose Creek men. In excellent physical condition, some of these Indian men impressed the colonists by keeping up
with a man on horseback for 10 or 20 miles, apparently without fatigue. They learned new occupations such as serving
on board oceangoing vessels and learning to care for and ride horses. Each village was apt to have a resident factor,
an Englishman or more likely a Scot, but some factors were Indians, mestizos or occasionally blacks. The natives’
appetite for trading goods and drink exceeded their ability to pay and they were frequently in debt. (Ref. 267 ([321]))
At the beginning of the century Anglicans redoubled their efforts to send missionaries among the Indians to learn their
languages and establish schools. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG) was founded
for that purpose in 1701. The Archbishop of Canterbury was a founder and colonial governors and commissaries
were members, as were laymen on both sides of the Atlantic. Inevitably there developed a close association between
SPG and English imperialism. There was little distinction between extending the flag and spreading the faith. A
search was made to find a lingua franca which could be comprehended by most southern Indians. An Algonquian
tongue spoken by the Savannahs (Shawnees) was considered, but the Muskhogean Yamasee was better as it could be
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
159
understood throughout much of the south as a second, if not a first language. Schools were established, including
one in connection with William and Mary College, but there were never many in attendance and little was really
accomplished. In the long run the SPG was most successful with Mohawks in upper New York, where missionaries
did conduct services in the Mohawk language. We have mentioned the Yamasee rebellion in the latter half of the
century, after which those Indians were implacable enemies of the British as long as any of them survived. The SPG
was shocked. (Ref. 267 ([321]))
After 1715 the two largest Indian tribes adjacent to South Carolina were the Creeks and Cherokees and there was
some attempt to Christianize them. A German, Christian Priber, a versatile scholar and lawyer conversant in several
languages, went to live among them, dressed as a native, learned their language and tried to establish a socialist
community on the frontier. He educated the Indians, explaining how traders’ scales, weights and measures worked so
that the British colonists assumed he was a French agent trying to turn the natives against them. They sought him out
and imprisoned him.
Except for the Floridas, which Britain acquired in 1763 and held for 20 years, Georgia was the last southern colony,
founded in 1733, more than 60 years after the birth of Charleston. After 10 years of Trustee rule, Georgia’s white
population was at most 3,000, but on the eve of the Revolution, Georgia contained 18,000 free whites and almost
as many slaves. The original trustees did have ideals,- however, including the prohibition of drinking, the outlawing
of Negro slavery and some restriction on the size of land holdings. This did not keep the Georgians from using
Indian slaves, however, and by 1750 the trustees legalized all types of slavery. James Oglethorpe was the only trustee
who actually went to Georgia and he appointed Charles Wesley his secretary for Indian affairs and John Wesley
as an ordained missionary of the SPG. John decided to go into the Chickasaw country to learn their language and
customs, but various complications kept him from accomplishing that and his ministry was not successful. Oglethorpe
persuaded the Yamacraw chief, his wife, nephew and a handful of others to return with him to England in 1734, where
the Reverend Samuel Smith instructed them in the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer and the Commandments. This was about
the extent of the Georgia conversion.
We shall return to the traditional history of the American colonies, the problems in the "Old Northwest", the French and
Indians War and finally the American Revolution at a later time, but feeling that school texts have overlooked much
material about the southern Indians and their relationships with the whites and imported Africans, we shall devote
a few additional paragraphs to these subjects. At times the Indians cooperated with the British, as when Creeks,
Yamacraws and Cherokees helped Oglethorpe in battles with Spanish troops, who attacked St. Simons Island in 1742.
Natives crewed the scout boats used for communications along the chain of sea island forts and they raided Florida,
killing or capturing unwary Spaniards, Yamasees and Negroes. At other times the Indians fought the colonists, but in
between there was considerable merging of red, white and black races.
In this 18th century Creeks constituted one of the largest racially heterogeneous tribes. Other more or less "pure-bred"
tribes, such as the Catawbas, had existed, but now there were only a few hundred of them left and the Catawba language
had been lost. Various Catawbas conversed in assorted tongues belonging to several different language families. The
first mention of the term "Seminole" was in 1771 and it was probably taken from the Spanish cimarron (wild) which
became simanoli in Chickasaw. Lower and then Upper Creeks drifting into Florida formed the nucleus of the Seminole
"nation", with a few remnants from earlier days - Calusas and Tequestas. (See also page 1013). There never was a
unified Seminole nation and those Indians then, as today, did not necessarily understand one another. The Lumbees of
southeastern North Carolina offer an even more bizarre grouping. Numbering still some 40,000 today, they constitute
one of the largest tribes in the United States, but actually they are an aggregation of diverse remnant tribes and also
blacks and whites, having geography more than anything else in common. There is no Lumbee language.
It is thus apparent that the mixtures that developed among the southern Indians was not entirely one of intermingled
tribes, as the whites mixed with the natives on a much grander scale than some care to admit. A considerable numb er
of colonists married Indians and reared families and then, of course, the packhorsemen and factors, living for extended
periods among the Indians, formed unions with native women. Many of the tribes had cultures which condoned
premarital sex for the young Indian girls. Such a large mestizo population emerged that great numbers of 18th century
"Indian" chiefs had such names as McDonald, Perryman, Colbert, Brown, etc. It wasn’t long before the natives and the
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
160
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
whites and mestizos living among them began to insist that they owned their lands outright and that in every respect
they inhabited a sovereign, independent nation. Attempts were made to reestablish centralized states, yet no chief
spoke for a unified Cherokee or Creek nation and colonists repeatedly took advantage of this to obtain lands. Many of
the tribes were ethnic melting pots. The terms Creek and Muskhogee did not even appear until this century. Creek or
Muskhogee, the primary language, in all probability was not a first language or perhaps even understood by a majority
of the Creeks. Lower Creeks, a major part of the confederation, themselves composed of different ethnic groups, for
the most part spoke Hitchiti, which was unintelligible to those speaking Creek proper.
At any time, in the last century or through this one, whenever whites destroyed Indian granaries and cut down their
corn, the effect was devastating. Survivors fled to the woods, where many starved, as they were not as at home in the
woods as their hunting and gathering ancestors had been. The Cherokee Chief Vann was driven from his village during
the revolution and was forced to scratch for subsistence in the wild. All of these Indians were basically agriculturists.
Although small amounts of wheat and rice were grown, maize remained the staple and was prepared as cornbread and
hominy, or after being boiled with oak and hickory ashes, was drunk as a kind of soup, which the Creeks called sof
kee. Late in the century sweet potatoes were developed. Fields were fenced and cattle, horses, sheep, goats, hogs and
chickens were available. The Upper Creek Chief Wolf owned 200 head of black cattle and Indians in other villages
had even larger herds. A few years after the Revolution, William Augustus Bowles brought a large supply of munitions
and presents for the Creeks from the Bahamas, but they had to come to the coast to get them. They had no difficulty
in assembling more than 100 pack horses outfitted with saddles and halters had led them nearly 400 miles overland to
pick up the goods. Of course, horse stealing became as prominent as raising, buying and selling. (Ref. 267 ([321]))
Although scalping was a long time custom among Indians, the usage increased after white contact and was more
prevalent around the time of the American Revolution than ever. Mississippians were not true cannibals, but for
ritualistic purposes at times did eat human flesh. Like the Indians, British colonists also drank yaupon tea and some was
even exported to Britain and France. Europeans took over a great many Indian medicines and cures and a considerable
portion of southern white and African folk medicine is of aboriginal origin. The Indians were also the source of many
new words such as moccasin, matchcoat, terrapin, opossum, raccoon, chinquapin, chum, hominy, pone and tomahawk.
The terms for racial hybrids have been confusing. A 1705 Virginia statute says that a mulatto is the offspring of whites
and non-whites, that is - the child of an Indian and a white, or the child, grandchild or great-grandchild of a Negro and
a white. A South Carolina missionary in 1715 baptized as a mulatto a girl whose mother he reported as an Indian and
father as a white trader. At other times "mulatto" seemed to mean Negro-Indian mixture, but finally the term zambo
was used for that hybrid. A significant percentage of the Yamasees themselves were zambos and during this 1 8th
century that tribe became increasingly noted for its Negroid features. In spite of the statutes, Africans and Indians
intermingled, learned each others’ languages, intermarried and at times made common cause against whites. Mestizos
properly may mean Indian-White, but has also been used for all kinds of combinations. (Ref. 267)
Regarding slavery, the status of white convicts arriving in Chesapeake Bay whose terms might be up to 14 years or
even life did not differ greatly from that of chattel slaves. White, black and Indian slaves were all marketed and
employed with little distinction, except for the one difference that most Indian slaves were female. The male Indians
would run away and were difficult to manage, so most of the field hands were young, male blacks.
All the slaves were kept together in compounds and it was inevitable that much mixing took place. At times Indians
owned African slaves and vice versa. The 1725 census in St. George Parish, South Carolina discloses that the Indian
Nero possessed one Negro black slave and the Indian Sam Pickins owned six. In turn Negro Robin Johnson owned 9
slaves, all of whom apparently were Indians. Alexander McGillivray, a mestizo Upper Creek, died in 1793, leaving a
considerable estate, including 60 Negro slaves.
In time most southern Negroes adopted, at least in a modified form, the white man’s religion and the evangelical sects
won more converts than the staid Anglicans. Another change occurred in the Negro culture after they came to America
- they dropped the patrilineal society of Africa and became matrilineal. There were probably several factors in this, but
one was certainly the matrilineal culture of the southern Indians. A handful of surviving Christian Indians abandoned
Florida in 1763 when the British took over, retiring with the Spaniards to Cuba or Mexico. Although a few Catholic
converts still remained among the Florida Indians when that area was restored to Spain in 1783, no effort was made
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
161
to re-establish the missions and no Catholic Indians remain today. Any remnants had been absorbed by the emerging
Seminoles.
2.32.1.1.2.2 THE MISSISSIPPI REGION, THE "OLD NORTHWEST, AND THE FRENCH AND INDIAN
WAR
Frenchmen were at the upper end of the Mississippi watershed and Detroit was founded by Sieur Antoine de la Mothe
Cadillac in 1701 as a fort to control the entrances to Lakes Huron and Erie. There were Indians all over the eastern part
of what we now call the Midwest. The Shawnees, who were known in the south as Savannahs, were at various periods
widely dispersed, but by 1725 most of the southern bands had rejoined their kinsmen in Pennsylvania. Pressure there
from the expanding white frontier and the Iroquois slowly pushed them westward, where they established new villages
in the Wyoming and Susquehanna valleys. During the second quarter of this 18th century part of the tribe again moved
south, seeking refuge among the Upper Creeks in Alabama, while the majority was settled in mid-century along the
Scioto River in central Ohio. They were surrounded by a great many other tribes, including the Liamis, Potawatomis,
Delawares, Wyandots and Senecas. (Ref. 293 ([84])) In the territory now known as the State of Illinois, there were
herds of 400 to 500 buffalo seen frequently even as late as 1792, but within 5 years of that time they were all gone,
driven across the Mississippi by hunters and domestic farming activities. (Ref. 217 ([68])) With them went the Indians.
In Minnesota, Chippewa and Sioux fought over the wild rice stands in the northern lakes in mid-century. (Ref. 222
([296])) The Sioux moved into the South Dakota area as nomadic horsemen with a far different life style than the
original valley farming Indians, whom we have described there from the 10th to the 14th centuries. (Ref. 241 ([322]))
They had received their horses indirectly from the Spaniards in the southwest.
In the lower Mississippi region in 1713 St. Denis, from French Biloxi, settled Natchitoches as the oldest city in
Louisiana. Near there were a series of small Indian states, including the famous Natchez, perhaps the last inheritors
of the Mound-building tradition. There were perhaps 4,000 Natchez people left at the beginning of this century, living
in 7 villages clustered near the present city of Natchez. Their social structure included a chief, the Great Sun and
his relatives, known as Little Suns. A step below were nobles, then groups of Honored Men, a class achievable by
anyone through distinguished action in war or religious devotion and finally the Commoners or Stinkards. Each Sun
and Noble, however, had to marry a Stinkard, so there was a constant social turnover. These Indians attacked French
Louisiana colonies in 1729, killing 200 and taking women, children and black slaves as prisoners. When they revolted
against the French again in 1734, however, within a few years almost none remained alive. The French commanders
disposed of a thousand captives in the West Indies. (Ref. 215 ([290]), 267 ([321]))
Throughout the century whenever England and France were threatening each other or at war in Europe, the Canadian
French made sporadic raids on the frontiers of New England and vice versa. At the end of the 1740s the French
took an expedition down the Ohio River and buried lead plates to mark their territorial possessions. Then in 1754
they destroyed a rude English fort at the crucial spot where the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers meet (near present
Pittsburg) and built their own Fort Duquesne. At 21 years of age George Washington had his first taste of battle against
the French as they moved out of that fort in 1755 at the opening of the true French and Indian War. General Braddock
and his English forces were badly defeated by the French and their 1,000 Indian allies.
The victory brought almost all the Indians of the old "northwest" to the French side. This was the American aspect
of the Seven Years War but it was a frontier war, strange to the British and they suffered atrociously in the mountains
and forests from Indian guerrillas and in the pitched battles they were out-maneuvered. Af ter six years the English
did take Quebec and Montreal and the fighting ended. In the Treaty of Paris, three years later, Canada and the whole
empire of France in the interior United States were transferred to England. We have noted previously that in the same
treaty Florida was taken from Spain, who had come in too late and on the wrong side. The Spanish did acquire La
Salle’s vast, vague region of Louisiana, however, from the French. (Ref. 39 ([60]))
The Old Northwest was the territory about the Great Lakes and between the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. By 1750 the
Shawnees of that area were divided into five semi-autonomous political units or bands, each occupying a special place
within the tribal confederacy. The Thawegila and Chalahgawtha bands supplied the leaders for the entire tribe, but all
the bands took an active part in the French and Indian Wars, most of them supporting the French. Some of them fought
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
162
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
beside Captain Daniel de Beaujeu as they cut the British column to pieces in the battle near Fort Duquense. During
the next 4 years they joined bands of Delawares to raid the English frontier in Pennsylvania and Virginia. After the
fall of Quebec, however, most Shawnees withdrew from the warfare, at least for the moment. The Treaty of 1763 did
not give absolute peace on the frontier. In that very year Chief Pontiac of the Ottawas along with some Wyandots,
Potawatamis and Ojibwas, attacked and then besieged the fort at Detroit from May until November128 . Inspired by
that, the Shawnees again attacked into eastern Ohio and West Virginia, killing settlers and burning farms. They sent
runners as far west as Illinois, urging the tribes of the Wabash Valley to attack British forts and traders. Actually the
Shawnee anger was directed at the "Virginians" - those whites trying to occupy Kentucky. (Ref. 293 ([84]))
Cumberland Gap is a 1,665 feet elevation pass through the Appalachian Mountains lying at the border of Kentucky,
Tennessee and Virginia, long known to the Indians, but discovered for the Virginia Land Company by Dr. Thomas
Walker in 1750 and named for the Duke of Cumberland. From the pass trails fan out to the south and west so that
somewhat later a veteran of the French and Indian Wars, Daniel Boone, made this a highway to the promised land
of the west. The so-called "Wilderness Road" was nearly 300 miles long, ending at the Ohio River at Louisville and
within 15 years, at the end of the century, 100,000 people had traversed this trail to western Tennessee and Kentucky.
Mostly unlettered, these people needed a good gun, a good horse and a good wife, along with good health, good luck,
an axe and salt. Most had to carry their salt over the mountains, but at Boone County, Kentucky was a huge brine lake,
which incidentally was also a great archaeological find, with a graveyard of mastodon bones. The salt licks were also
used by the Indians and this immediately helped to initiate hard feelings early in the settlement of the area.
During the six years of the French-Indian War, the British got an education and became aware of the fact that they
needed to overhaul their imperial system and strengthen their central authority. Previously all relation of England to
the colonies was on the basis of a commercial empire, on the theory that the colonies existed solely for the benefit
of the homeland and that in return the homeland owed them protection. Although the Acts of Trade and Navigation
had been passed by Parliament in 1651 they had not been enforced until this century. These Acts called for exclusive
navigation, in that all commerce had to involve only British or colonial ships and the "Entrepot Principle" which meant
that foreign trade should normally be conducted through the mother country. After the war just discussed, England
began to pass constricting laws, new taxes and new army conscriptions from the colonies themselves. This shocked the
Americans. First came the Stamp Act, innocuous enough in itself, but inf uriating to the colonists and soon repealed
at the insistence of William Pitt. But then came George 111 and Lord North, with still more repressive laws and taxes
and a show-down became inevitable. (Ref. 39 ([60])) (Go to 1140 & 1153)
2.32.1.1.2.2.1 FACTORS LEADING TO THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
1. Enforcement of the Sugar Act129 of 1733 by William Pitt in 1760. Early Americans, like most Europeans of
the day, preferred to drink almost anything in preference to water and the New Englanders made everything
from poor whiskey to pumpkin beer, maple syrup and persimmons to apple-jack. But soon the main drink in
the colonies was rum and the yearly consumption was 3 3/4 gallons per person, including women and children.
Some believe that the Sugar Act which imposed a heavy tax on both sugar and molasses (if they came from
anyplace but the British owned Caribbean Islands) was more important in the declaration of independence than
the tea tax, because the rum trade was based on molasses. The rum was felt to be important, not only for the
local consumption but because the New England shippers could exchange rum for slaves in Africa, then trade
the slaves in the West Indies for more molasses, which was taken back to the colonies to make more rum.
Alcohol was a mainstay of 18th century America. When George Washington was campaigning for the Virginia
legislature in 1758, his agents doled out almost 3 3/4 gallons of beer, wine, cider or rum to every voter and
Washington was afraid this would not be enough. (Ref. 217 ([68]))
2. The Iron Act of 1750 prohibiting colonists from manufacturing iron products, but allowing them to develop
their ore deposits for exchange in England for the manufactured pieces. This was the classic mercantilism of the
British colonial system, using colonies to produce raw materials, which the mother country could process and
sell back. This law was generally ignored by the Americans
128 This
was to be known as Pontiac’s Rebellion or Pontiac’s Conspiracy. (Ref. 38 ([59]))
called the "Molasses Act"
129 Sometimes
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
163
3. The Garrisoning of 10,000 British troops, and this chiefly in cities, rather than on frontiers where they were
needed
4. The Revenue Act of 1764, to raise money to defray the expense of troops "defending the colonies". This act put
duties on foreign sugar, European luxuries and limited some exports
5. The Stamp Act of 1775. This was the first direct, internal tax levied on the colonies. Every type of legal
document, even such as college diplomas, was heavily taxed and payable in sterling. Every copy of newspapers,
each advertisement in papers, etc. was taxed. Riots against enforcement officials began immediately. A middleclass organization, "Sons of Liberty", sprung up in every seaport and kept the courts from acting, thus nullifying
the law. It was repealed by a new administration in England in 1766
6. The Townshend Act of 1767. Avoiding an internal tax, which the colonists thought unconstitutional, this levied
duties on certain English manufactures entering America - paper, glass, paint and the East India Company’s tea.
The culminating blow was a whole new customs regulation organization to enforce this, using Admiralty Courts
to try cases under the Acts of Trade and Navigation, without a jury. The Townshend duties were repealed in
1770, except for tea. It was at that time that Samuel Adams, a middle class Bostonian, began to lead opposition
as a Boston "radical"
7. Land Grievances. There were brawls in the back-country from New Hampshire to South Carolina over land
boundaries, land companies and the like, with resulting grievances of frontiersmen against the establishment on
the coast. All felt their problems had no attention in Parliament. The Boston Tea Party of 1773. The Sons of
Liberty, dressed as Indians, boarded three, unloaded tea ships in Boston Harbor and dumped the cargo into the
sea. This was a protest against the tax on tea and it had the calculated effect of irritating the British government
into unwise acts of reprisal. This is what Sam Adams wanted
8. The Coercive Acts of 1774. The Boston Port Act virtually blockaded Boston until it paid for the dumped tea.
The Administration of Justice Acts chastised Massachusetts, making councilmen, judges, sheriff s, etc. all
appointees of the king. The Quartering Act empowered royal governors to commandeer houses for soldiers. It
should be noted that many old Whigs and merchants in England opposed all of these Acts
One of the first skirmishes of the revolution took place in Boston in 1770, when colonists and British troops exchanged
shots in the so-called "Boston Massacre". Three civilians were killed and two more died later, including a black man,
Crispus Attucks. Who fired the first shot or threw the first stone? Following this episode a revolutionary conspiracy
and a colonial underground was formed by James Otis, a Whig lawyer and scholar, and Samuel Adams, the genuine
rabble-rouser. They formed committees of correspondence running clear down to South Carolina. In Virginia the
headquarters were in a tavern and members included Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson. (Ref. 39 ([60]))
The first Continental Congress met on September 5, 1774 at Philadelphia with 55 members chosen by revolutionary
conventions in 12 continental colonies. The Congress issued the Declaration of Rights and an agreement called "The
Association" - a non-importation, non-consumption agreement regarding imports from Britain unless the Coercive
Acts were repealed. The first true fighting of the war occurred in April, 1775, when General Gage set out to Concord
to destroy patriot munitions. The famous stories of Lexington and Concord and later Bunker Hill, etc. are sufficiently
well known by all to not require repetition here. Politically, the next step was the Second Continental Congress, which
met in May of 1775. At about the same time Parliament passed an act prohibiting all manner of trade and commerce
with the colonies. The latter countered with the Declaration of Independence in July, 1776, worded chiefly by Thomas
Jefferson.
2.32.1.1.2.2.2 FEATURES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR
The war was actually not popular in America. The army was chiefly infantry regiments named after various colonies,
where they had been recruited. Every line regiment had Negroes. The colonies could have provided a regular army
of 100,000 but they could never have fed and clothed so many. The greatest number of men at any one time was
20,000, in 1778. Washington’s army went hungry because of reluctance of farmers and merchants to exchange food
and clothing for a Continental chit. The chief source of food was Connecticut, through actions of Governor Jonathan
Trumbull.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
164
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
2.32.1.1.2.2.2.1 Financing of the Revolution
1. Foreign loan. 6.4 million dollars were borrowed from France, in addition to a direct grant of 2.6 million. John
Adams got an additional loan from the Dutch
2. Domestic loans. 20 million dollars were raised by both interest bearing bonds and certificates of indebtedness
for goods received
3. Requisitions in money or in kind, apportioned among states in proportion to the estimated population
All loans, domestic and foreign and the states debts were later repaid at par. The local currency depreciated, but a later
French loan negotiated by Robert Morris saved the day.
Alistair Cooke (Ref. 39 ([60])) asks the question: "How did a rag-tag army defeat one of the crack armies of Europe?"
And then he gives the following answers:
• Weaponry. The British used smooth-bore muskets that allowed a lateral error of 3 feet at 100 yards and used for
mass "spraying" of close order troops. In contrast the American frontiersmen used the Pennsylvania flintlock,
with double the barrel length and grooves (rifling) to make the bullet spin and stay on line They could put a ball
in a man’s head-at 150 to 200 yards
• Guerilla hit and run warfare
• The choice of Washington as commander in chief, as this brought Virginia into the war
• The idealism of Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson spread among the people
One might add a 5th factor in the American victory - the difficulty of the British in supplying an army of 90,000
soldiers an ocean away from their homeland, as after 1775 the Americans had pretty well prevented British troops
from access to local supplies.
Under the circumstances the British navy did a good job, but in January 1779 the Red Coat army in New York had
only 4 days rations left when a relieving fleet arrived. (Ref. 279 ([191]))
The final battle of the war occurred in 1781 at Yorktown. General Cornwallis was already under siege with Washington’s troops on land; then the French navy bottled him in130 . In 1782 there was still occasional fighting in the west,
where the British had Indian associates and this will be discussed a little more in a later paragraph. The Peace of Paris
of February 3, 1783 involved Great Britain, France, Spain, the Netherlands and the new United States, with the latter
winning territorial rights west to the Mississippi, north to Canada and south to the Floridas. The British did retain
Newfoundland fishing rights and free navigation on the Mississippi. Spain wanted Gibraltar, but settled for the return
of Florida.
After the war, there was still not a nation but a group of independent countries. Within four years the Union was close
to bankruptcy and strong leaders were not in sight. About 1/3 of the people in this new "nation" were Tories, who had
remained loyal to England during the war. Pennsylvania and South Carolina were generous and compassionate with
these people, but other colonies reacted much differently and great numbers of Tories were exiled to Canada, the West
Indies or back to England. Immediately after the termination of fighting various states started to draw up declarations
of rights and constitutions. The Virginia Declaration of Rights was one of the great liberty documents of all time.
Articles of Confederation had been drawn up as early as November, 1777 by a Congress designed to preserve the
independence and sovereignty of the states. There was a considerable revival of commerce between 1782 and 1789
and some literary activity, as evidenced by the publication of Webster’s Dictionary by Noah Webster. But all was not
completely peaceful - in Massachusetts a revolt of poor farmers against the courts, who were prosecuting debtors was
called "Shay’s Rebellion". The situation was alleviated when some new legislators were elected.
130 An
interesting sidelight is that the French fleet under the Comte de Grasse had re-fueled in the Caribbean and made for the Chesapeake, while
his English counterpart, Admiral Rodney, was attacking the Dutch Island of St. Eustatius, just north of St. Kitts, because the islanders had been
trading illicitly with the rebel colonies. (Ref. 215 ([290]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
165
Besides having European nations treating it with contempt, the new nation was scarcely able to contain the Indian
tribes and to pay the interest on the Revolutionary War debt. It was on the brink of collapse when Congress appealed
to the people for a new constitution. (Ref. 217 ([68])) Finally delegates did meet in the so-called Constitutional
Convention in 1787. The problem was not to give the states anything, but to take some existing powers from them.
(Ref. 39 ([60])) Sam Adams, Thomas Paine, Patrick Henry131 and others of the "Pampleteers" group were not present.
As Cooke (Ref. 39 ([60])) puts it - such men "love the bonfire, but find the rebuilding something of a bore". Alexander
Hamilton wanted a lifetime chief executive, a lifetime senate of property owners and in effect wanted to extinguish
the states altogether. His opposite was George Mason, a 62 year old, uncompromising democrat, who was about 1/2
century before his time. He called himself a radical republican and argued long and hard for individual liberties such
as he had engineered previously in the Virginia Bill of Rights. Between these two extremes was James Madison, 36
years old, also from Virginia, but with a middle ground approach that led to the final constitution. The solution was
compromise and at the end even Hamilton helped to publicize and get the document approved.
Some additional information concerning the Constitutional Convention can be found in "Documents illustrative of the
Formation of the Union of the American States", published for the Library of Congress by the Government printing
office in 1927. (Ref. 123 ([171])) The following contains excerpts from that source:
From the notes of William Patterson of New Jersey, while preparing a speech for July 9, 1787 we find this information
about the populations of the various states:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
New Hampshire– 1774 –100,000
Massachusetts – 1774 – 400,000
Rhode Island – 1783 – 48,538 Whites and 3,331 Blacks
Connecticut – 1774 – 192,000 Whites and nearly 6,000 Blacks
New York – 1786 – 219,996 Whites and 18,889 Blacks
New Jersey – 1783 – 129,000 Whites and about 10,000 Blacks
Maryland – 1774 – 350,000 (Estimated) with 3/7 Blacks - 150,000
Virginia – 1774 – 650,000. (This apparent4 as a total, because he writes then - Blacks as 10 to 11 - 300,000132
The Congress early wrote an Ordinance for the Government of the territory of the United States Northwest of the river
Ohio and it contained, among others, the following interesting features:
• "Article III –The utmost good faith shall always be observed toward the Indians; their lands and property shall
never be taken from them without their consent; and in their property, rights and liberty they never shall be
invaded or disturbed unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress
• Article VI - There was to be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the territory, but escaped slaves were to
be returned to owners in the original states
In the convention there was much discussion about slavery. Mr. John Rutledge of South Carolina said that religion and
humanity had nothing to do with this question and that it was a matter of "interest". "If the northern states consult their
interest, they will not oppose the increase of slaves which will increase the commodities of which they will become
the carriers." Mr. Charles C. Pinkney of South Carolina added that South
Carolina could never receive the plan (Constitution) if it prohibits the slave trade. He further stated that the entire world
had had slaves - Greece, Rome and other ancient states - and that slavery had been sanctioned by France, Holland and
other modern states. "In all ages one-half of mankind have been slaves." (Ref. 123 ([171]))
Thomas Jefferson was not present at the Constitutional Convention as he was serving as Minister to France at the
time, but it will be worthwhile to consider at this time a few more details about that most remarkable man. He was a
Greek and Latin scholar, geologist, musician, astronomer, meteorologist, archaeologist, anthropologist and gardener
131 When Patrick Henry gave his famous "give me liberty or give me death" speech, his wife was a hopeless psychotic in a strait-jacket, confined
to a basement room. Tom Paine had had a break-up with his second wife, whom he simply left in England. (Ref. 20 ([33]))
132 Trager (Ref. 222 ([296])) writes that as of 1775 there were 450,000 slaves below the Mason Dixon line
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
166
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
extraordinaire, as well as statesman and lawyer. (Ref. 39 ([60])) His father was a Welshman with distaste for English
rule, although already a third generation colonial. As a young man Thomas was accused, rightly or wrongly, of many
indiscretions with married women and finally married a rich widow with a child, only to soon take a mulatto slave as
his concubine133 . His house slaves alone numbered 25. He loved fine wine, blooded horses and exotic orchids, all of
which he kept at Monticello. He preserved a legacy of over 25,000 letters from friends and acquaintances and copies
of his own letters that numbered some 18,000, all indexed. In spite of meticulous record keeping, however, when he
died he owed over $100,000. He befriended the Shawnee Indians and talked against slavery, having introduced a bill
in the Virginia legislature at age 24 to permit emancipation by free choice of the slave holder, but the bill was defeated.
He wrote about and compared Whites, Blacks and Indians, giving certain features to all, some good, some bad, but
was remarkable liberal for an 18th century Virginian, where there were 10 blacks for every 11 whites. During the
war, Virginia never officially permitted slave enlistment. Nevertheless, free blacks numbering about 500 did fight as
soldiers and sailors by November 1777. Thousands of other Virginia slaves, however, fled to the British side, including
22 of Jefferson’s own. Other colonies lost slaves also; 4,000 from Savannah, 6,000 from Charleston, 4,000 from New
York and thousands more were carried off by the French.
Jefferson was enthusiastic about the new inoculation against small-pox that became available near the end of the
century, although the more religious people were upset about it, still claiming that illness was a manifestation of God’s
intention, if not a punishment for sin. Jefferson, himself, was a deist. John Adams and Jefferson were once great
friends, but had a falling-out chiefly over the French revolution, which Jefferson supported. In addition there was a
great rivalry with and finally hatred of the younger Alexander Hamilton, a bastard son of a wayward descendant of a
French Huguenot in the West Indies and a Scotsman, 4th son of a Scottish laird. Although it was common knowledge
that Hamilton was a womanizer, he married into a rich, Dutch patroon family along the Mohawk. He seemed to cherish
a monarchy and wanted to make the childless George Washington a king, with himself as the chosen heir. (Ref. 20
([33]))
As is well known, after the Constitution was adopted the new government commenced to function in 1789 with George
Washington as the first president and John Adams as vice president. John Jay was chief justice, General Knox secretary
of war, Edmund Randolph attorney general and upon his return from France, Thomas Jefferson became secretary of
state. Any enthusiasm for emancipation of slaves in Virginia was rapidly cooled by the news of the Santo Domingo
rising of the blacks under the Jamaican voodoo priest, Boukman and Toussaint L’Ouverte. (See the next section,
please). As secretary of state, Jefferson was a states’ rights and southern policies advocate, who was favorable to
France.
Map taken from Reference 97
His associates formed the Republican Party of that time (later to become the present day Democratic Party). The real
power of the first administration, however, was the secretary of the treasury, Alexander Hamilton, who favored Britain
over France and whose policies led to the establishment of the Federalist Party. The United States navy had to be
rebuilt in 1794, stimulated by piracy of the Barbary corsairs and some troubles with the British navy.
As John Adams became president with Jefferson as vice-president in 1797 naval war with France loomed on the
horizon. The aggressive and subversive French Directory let French privateers loose against the American merchant
fleet and by June more than 300 American vessels had been captured. The Federalists felt that France was a great
menace and that England was the only barrier against France’s ruling of the world. An American negotiation mission
arrived in Paris just after Bonaparte had beaten Austria and the Directory was at the height of power and arrogance.
Talleyrand, the minister of foreign affairs, was insufferable and tried to bribe the commission. When reports of this
reached home, President Adams and Congress created a navy department, navy yards were purchased and an ambitious
program of naval construction was undertaken. By the close of 1798 some 14 American man-of-war ships were at
sea and transatlantic shipping was being protected every place, with the help of an arrangement with the British navy.
The first test battle was off Nevis Island in the Caribbean, where the U.S.S. Constellation fought for an hour and won
133 When the French savant and refugee, the Comte de Volney, visited Monticello in 1796, he noted in his journal great astonishment at seeing
slave children as white as himself! (Ref. 20 ([33]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
167
over the crack French frigate L’Insurgente. This helped the Federalists to win a strong majority in the 1798-1799
Congressional elections. But Talleyrand changed his approach, saved face and full war did not occur. Nevertheless,
there was a rebirth of the U.S. Navy and at the end of hostilities, there were 54 American warships.
As the century ended in 1800, Jefferson ran for president. It is interesting that clergymen were against him. He felt
that both the Episcopalian and the Congregational churches hoped to be named as the established Church of the United
States, but he had "sworn upon the Altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man".
(Ref. 20 ([33]))
We must return to events west of the Appalachians during and after the American Revolution. Shawnee hatred of the
Virginians virtually assured that the former remaining in Ohio would oppose the colonists during the war. In January
1778 a war party from the Chalahgawtha (Chillicothe) village captured Daniel Boone and some companions at the
Blue Licks on the Licking River. Boone later escaped, but all through the summer of 1778 Shawnee warriors fell upon
Kentucky settlements, burning, capturing horses and taking scalps. Such raids and counter attacks by such as Colonel
John Bowman’s 200 mounted volunteers continued through 1779. Although few Indians were killed, the Americans
captured many horses and much Indian property. Somewhat demoralized, many Shawnee tribesmen retreated down
the Ohio and eventually crossed the Mississippi, establishing new villages in what is now Missouri.
White settlers crowded into Indian lands in southern Ohio and the remaining Shawnees turned to British Indian agents,
who assured them that they still owned their lands. Hoping to forestall more bloodshed, the United States negotiated
a series of treaties with the Iroquois, Wyandots and other tribes during 1784 and 1785 and assembled a delegation of
Shawnees at Fort Finney in January of 1786. American agents told these Shawnees that they must give up their land
claims east of the Miami and acknowledge the sovereignty of the United States over all their villages. The Indians were
astonished, but under threats of destruction of their women and children, Kekewepellethe and other Shawnee leaders,
signed the documents, but they soon lashed out again at white settlers in southern Ohio. Two federal expeditions were
sent out against the Shawnees - the first under General Josiah Harmar and the next under Governor St. Clair, who
had almost 2,000 regulars, militia and volunteers. The Shawnees with Miamis, Potawatomis, Delawares and other
allies, killed over 630 Americans and the latter had to admit disaster. During the spring of 1794 the British built a
new Fort Miamis at modern Toledo134 Thinking that was a sure indication of British military assistance, the Shawnees
dared the American to come again and more warfare seemed inevitable. The new leader of the American forces, "Mad
Anthony" Wayne, however, had spent two years training an army and on August 20, 1794 this army swept through
Shawnee barricades at Fallen Timbers, Ohio and crushed the Indians. They had no choice but to make peace and on
August 3, 1795 signed the Treaty of Greenville, in which they exchanged most of their former homeland for a few
trade goods and an annuity of $1,000. The only land they retained was the northwest quadrant of Ohio. (Go to 1140
& 1153)
2.32.1.1.2.3 THE SOUTHWEST AND FAR WEST
West of the Mississippi whites and Indians alike were little affected by the American Revolution or the events leading
up to it. The spread of horsemanship from the Spanish contact had worked a rapid transformation in the Great Plains,
but this was only the beginning of a radical cultural adjustment to a nomadic life. (Ref. 139 ([192])) Between 1720
and 1722 Mexican Spaniards occupied Texas, fearing loss of the territory to France. A mission was founded at San
Antonio in 1718. Around 1700, using the horse, Comanches came out of Wyoming and fought against the Apaches
first and then kept the Texas settlements in a permanent state of siege, after a big battle on the Red River in 1759.
Spanish Governor Domingo Cabello listed the population of Texas in 1783 as 2,819 Spanish people. In the adjacent
area of Louisiana, by 1797, American squatters made up nearly 1/2 of the population of 50,000. (Ref. 198 ([287]))
New Orleans had been founded about 1720 by Le Moyne de Bienville to control river traffic. After 1763, however,
Spain controlled this area until the French Consulate forced its return to France in 1800.
134 This was on land ceded by Great Britain by the treaty of 1783 (see map on page 10Z9) but it is obvious that the British in Canada and the Old
Northwest did not pay a great deal of attention to that
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
168
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
Besides Texas and New Mexico, most of Colorado and Arizona, with slices of Utah, Wyoming, Kansas and Oklahoma,
all belonged to Spain in an area called the Kingdom of New Mexico, by Madrid. White settlements were made chiefly
along the Rio Grande River. Albuquerque was established in 1706, with Taos soon after and there were Spaniards
about Pueblo, Colorado by 1750. There was extensive trade between that area and Chihuahua in old Mexico, some
600 miles south. In some years as many as 500,000 sheep were sent there. It is unfortunate that even the Franciscan
priests treated the Indians as servants and serfs. In the 1770s almost 1700 Spaniards were killed by Apaches and
Comanches, now teaming up against the white invaders. But the area continued to be populated, particularly after
Governor de Anza persuaded the Comanches and Apaches to fight each other again instead of the Spaniards. The
Utes joined forces with the Apaches. By 1799 the Spanish population in that area was 18,826. (Ref. 198 ([287]),
165 ([224])) The Pima Indians135 of southern Arizona fought the Apaches, but continued friendly to the Spaniards. In
1775 they numbered about 2,500, living as sedentary farmers, raising corn, squash, beans, cotton and Spanish wheat
by means of irrigation. (Ref. 38 ([59]))
In the far west, Spain was also active both by land and by sea. The land between Mexico and California was mapped
by Father Kino, who went overland to San Diego in 1769 and established missions in the Baja peninsula. The last great
military expedition of the Spaniards came about in the 1750s when there were rumors that the Russians were going to
take upper California (the state of California, today) and the Spanish considered this a part of New Spain. Actually
the Russians were only chasing the sea otter, but King Carlos, of Spain, ordered out expeditions by land and sea to
build a chain of forts and hold the California coast. With the military went priests and in particular one Father Serra,
who built 21 missions, the main architectural legacy of Spain in California. He personally walked between 4,000 and
5,000 miles up and down the coast line, over mountains and deserts. The Spanish did bring oats, wheat, barley and
oranges to America and refined the culture of maize. (Ref. 39 ([60])) The earliest California missions were in San
Diego, San Gabriel and San Luis Obispo, all established by 1773. In 1775 Don Bruno Heceta, sailing the "Santiago"
found the Columbia River mouth, naming the river "Rio St. Roc". Spain had a settlement at Cape Medocino, about
130 miles north of San Francisco. (Ref. 63 ([93]) The Presidio of San Francisco was founded by Bautista de Anza,
subsequently the governor of New Mexico, in 1776. All overland routes from Mexico to California were interrupted
in 1781, however, by bloody Yuma Indian rebellions. At the very end of the century (1792-1794) George Vancouver
made three sea visits to California for Great Britain. (Ref. 198 ([287]))
(Continue on page 1157)
2.32.1.1.3 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN
In Mexico Spanish rule continued in a stagnant civilization. The object of Spanish colonization was to enrich the
Spanish king, without thought to the effect on the population and progress of the colonized country. There were
5,000 to 6,000 priests, with 6,000 to 8,000 other members of the religious orders and they were owners of tremendous
properties. By the end of the century there were perhaps a 1,000,000 creoles and the mestizos were becoming more
numerous. In the army, the privates were mestizos and the officers, creoles. The 3,000,000 or 4,000,000 Indians
lived very little differently from their ancestors. As the century progressed and after wide-spread administrative
reforms by the new Bourbon monarch, Philipe, King of Spain and grandson of Louis XIV, - especially liberalization
of trade regulation - there was a general economic upsurge and the growth of a large middle class population gave
new intellectual and cultural life to the colony. A very rapid population increase was apparent by the close of the
century, apparently as a result of the development of immunity to the various European diseases. Spanish America
became much more Europeanized, although racial plurality, prevalence of large estates and the widespread compulsory
labor (both debt peonage and outright slavery) and the extraordinary economic and cultural importance of the Church,
distinguished it from the most of Europe. Mexico City had 112,926 people in 1793 and was larger than any city in
France or England except Paris and London. There were more people in Mexico than in all of the thirteen colonies
of North America. (Ref . 139). Silver mines in the northern part of the country allowed the Mexicans to purchase
135 Today about 1/2 of the adults on Pima farm reservations have diabetes mellitus. William Tucker (Ref. 289 ([297])) believes that they are
representative of certain groups of Polynesians and American Indians who, in their past history, have gone through periods of infrequent meals.
As an adaptation to those large, infrequent meals, their bodies developed low insulin production, allowing the blood sugar to rise and stay high
longer and with slower use, carry the individual over the starvation periods. This genetic diabetic trait results in obesity and diabetes in a setting of
adequate food and regular meals
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
169
large quantities of European goods. When the maize supply, which originated in the south, was interrupted in 178586, however, famine developed in the northern mine area and there was an endless flight of workers to the south and
Mexico City. (Ref. 292 ([28]))
Guatemala City was founded in 1776, after the old capital was destroyed by an earth- quake. (Ref. 213 ([288])) After
about 1720 Britain’s largest supply of American Indian slaves for the West Indies came, not from the U.S.A. south,
but from Central America, primarily the Gulf of Honduras, the Mosquito Coast and Panama. Mosquito Indians and
some Darien warriors in Panama raided Spanish settlements and Catholic Indian villages in the interior, returning to
the coast with slaves. Two thousand such individuals were sold by the Mosquitos in the decade following 1712. (Ref.
267 ([321]))
In the Caribbean, the first coffee plants were started on Martinique by a French naval officer in 1723 and the Caribbean
would eventually supply 90% of the world’s coffee. (Ref. 222 ([296])) Jamaica continued its sugar production and
Saint Domingue produced as much or more. Jamaica, as a very large island, had gigantic estates developed there,
especially after 1740, when the island’s sugar economy was expanded. A typical estate would have a master’s house
and 9 or 10 black slaves for every white man. The colonial pound had a lower value than the pound sterling (1 pound
sterling = 1.4 Jamaican pounds). Piracy and pillage by French privateers was common. (Ref. 292 ([28])) By 1763 the
British had taken previously Spanish Havana and all the French islands except St. Dominque, but all was restored by
the Treaty of Paris of that year. (Ref 8) Britain did gain permanent control of Belize and protectorates over Honduras
and Nicaragua. (Ref. 119 ([166]))
Late in the century revolt of slaves in Sainte Domingue (Haiti), led by black leaders Boukman and Louverte, ruined the
French colony there and changed this island from the richest colony in the world, with sugar and coffee exports, to the
poorest republic. (Ref. 213 ([288])) This revolt must be considered a by-product of the French Revolution. (Ref. 249
([98])) Slave trouble occurred on Jamaica, also and resulted in 1739 in the governor’s signing of a fifteen point treaty
with the maroon leader, Captain Cudjoe. The maroons rebelled against both Cudjoe and the settlement, however, and
intermittent con licts continued throughout the century. Actually Cudjoe’s maroons numbered only some thousands,
while the total slave population of Jamaica was about 100,000, with fewer than 10,000 whites. (Ref. 249 ([98])) Even
with all their troubles, the planters made at most 8 to 10% profit, the real wealth being accumulated by capitalists in
England. (Ref. 292 ([28]))
When the British took over the tiny island of St. Eustatius in the Leeward group, in 1781, Admiral Rodney found
that Jews comprised at least 1/5 of the merchant population. A fine brick synagogue and a large mikve (bath house)
were scheduled to be fully excavated in the summer of 1982. (Ref. 245 ([70]), 260 ([29])) Additional Notes (p. 171)
(Continue on page 1174)
2.32.1.1.4 SOUTH AMERICA (See map on page 945)
It has been said that in this century South America was powered by 2,000,000 mules, although in the Argentine, ox
carts were used. In 1776 Peru had 500,000 mules for trade or drawing coaches on the coast and in the Andes. 50,000
a year were imported from the Argentine pampas. (Ref. 260 ([29])) The human population was about 15,000,000 of
which about 20% were Caucasian. (Ref. 213 ([288]))
2.32.1.1.4.1 WESTERN AND NORTHERN COASTS OF SOUTH AMERICA
European expeditionary forces continued intermittent fighting over American ports. With 100 ships and 27,000 men,
Britain’s Admiral Vernon attacked the Spanish fortress at Cartagena, Columbia in 1741, but the Spanish, with the help
of malaria and yellow fever, held them off and the British retired to Jamaica, having lost 4,500 soldiers, at least as far
as effectiveness was concerned. Cayenne, in French Guinea, was actually a French penal colony. Cocoa plantations
in Venezuela were created by the Caracas Company in 1728. Southern Venezuela, however, was a_ wild country with
huge flocks of sheep shepherded by Indians and Spanish-Indian half-breeds. (Ref. 292 ([28]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
170
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
In the Spanish part of South America a relatively small number of Europeans ruled over a large native population, but
as the races and skills were gradually mingled some industry developed, so that by 1700 Spanish America was nearly
self sufficient. There were only rare, minor uprisings, the most important of these occurring in Peru in 1780 and 81,
led by a man claiming royal Inca descent. Earthquakes were frequent, with Lima virtually destroyed in 1746.
With the new liberalization of trade and transport decreed from the new Bourbon monarchy of Spain, the colonies
were allowed for the first time to trade freely among themselves. Gradually wider circles of Spanish-Americans began
to interest themselves in the new knowledge from Europe. (Ref. 139 ([192])) In the third quarter of the century, under
the enlightened Spanish reign of Carlos III, the area had even begun to make preparations for self-government, but
then the French Revolution spoiled everything. (Ref. 68 ([106]))
The great silver mines of Bolivia continued to operate during the century. The greatest mining camp was Potosi, 4,000
meters high in the Andes, where more than 100,000 people lived under most expensive conditions. A hen could cost
8 reals, an egg 2. Only the merchants made money. (Ref. 292 ([28])) The Atacamanian Indians allowed a permanent
contact between the populations of southern Peru and the tribes of central Chile - the Diaguites and Araucanians. They
kept their own language until late in this century and had a population of about 10,000. One of the foods used by South
American Indians on long journeys was prepared by taking 1/4 inch strips of lean game meat (later beef), dipping them
in strong brine or rubbing them with salt, then rolling them in animal hide for 10 to 12 hours to allow re-absorption
of the salt and release of some juices, then hanging the strips in the sun to dry and finally tying them in bundles. The
Indians called this charqui which was later corrupted in the United States West to "jerked" beef or "jerky". (Ref. 211
([284]))
2.32.1.1.4.2 EASTERN COAST AND CENTRAL SOUTH AMERICA
The alliance of Portugal with England during the war of the Spanish succession led to French attacks on Brazilian
ports, Rio de Janeiro being sacked in 1711. There was continued trouble between the Portuguese and the converted
Indians (the Paulistas), with some open warfare finally resulting in the pushing of the line of Portuguese territory
farther westward into the jungles. In addition there was war (1710-11) between the native Brazilians of Olinda, capital
of Pernambuco, and the Portuguese town of Recife. Again the latter won and made Recife the capital of Brazil until
1763 when it was moved to Rio de Janeiro because of the development of nearby gold mines. Actually the peak gold
production was between the years of 1750 and 1755, when over 15 tons a year were mined. (Ref. 260 ([29]), 292
([28])) Throughout all this Brazil continued to provide Europe with sugar, coffee, cacao, rice and cotton, in addition
to the gold, but since the Indian labor population had been almost obliterated by conquest and disease, they had been
replaced by Africans.
By 1775 some 5 1/2 million slaves had been brought to America, although only 1 1/2 million had survived. (Ref.
8 ([14])) By mid-century the minister the Marquis de Pombal introduced colonial reforms, including the removal
of certain restrictions and taxes and the organization of trading companies. Actually some native Brazilians were
appointed to important governmental posts, racial equality was advocated and defenses were improved, but the masters
of Brazil were still the merchants of Portugal. The discovery of the rich gold and diamond finds early in the century
had helped the economy considerably.
The Jesuits were expelled from their "reductions" in land-locked Paraguay among the Guarani Indians. The "reductions" were compounds with two priests, an Indian supervisor and many Indian farmers and laborers, ostensibly
designed to acquaint the natives with Spanish religion and ways, but which really became commercial enterprises competing with other private businesses. The Guarani were language-related to the Tubi groups of Brazil. (Ref. 8 ([14]),
38 ([59])) There were some serious clashes between Spain and Portugal over the area of Uruguay (then called "Banda
Oriental") and although Spain created the Viceroyalty of La Plata in 1776 as a defensive as well as administrative
measure, the final disposition of the territory was not finally decided until the next century. (Ref. 119 ([166]))
The fierce Araucanian Indians, some of whom had escaped the Spaniards in the 16th century by taking refuge with
their stolen Spanish horses on the eastern slopes of the Andes, subsequently invaded the pampas and occasionally still
threatened Buenos Aires in this century. (Ref. 62 ([91])) The sale of thousands of mules a year to Peru and Brazil
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
171
gave primitive Argentina a chance to share in the silver and gold of those countries. Some 2,000,000 mules may have
been used in Central and South America for saddle or carrying (rarely for hauling). European oxen were used for drawing heavy carts in the pampas and the gauchos were already riding great horses at the end of the century. Even
so, whether traveling by horseback, mule or ox-cart, travelers across the Argentine deserts had to be sure of elaborate
arrangements to find food and water. (Ref. 260 ([29]))
Forward to America: A.D. 1801 to 1900 (Section 2.33)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era136
Africa (Section 1.33)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.32)
Europe (Section 4.32)
The Far East (Section 5.28)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.32)
The Near East (Section 7.32)
Pacific (Section 8.32)
NOTE : In the Aleutian Islands prior to Bering’s discovery in 1741 there were about 16,000 inhabitants with
an advanced culture, for aborigines. They had a relative high standard of living with art, music, medicine,
some surgery and mummification. After the Russians arrived the Aleuts were essentially enslaved and their
numbers dropped to 3,200. (Ref. 310 ([204])) It is interesting to note that before his famous voyages to
the Pacific James Cook was an officer aboard the Eagle for 2 years after war started between England and
France (1758) and then as master of a ship he charted much of the east coast of Canada between the years
1762 and 1769. He helped in the battle of Louisberg and Quebec on the St. Lawrence. (Ref. 302 ([305]))
NOTE : After a revolt in the Windward Islands in the 1,790s, "Black Caribs" (descendants of Carib Indians
and black slaves) were banished from St. Vincent and went to the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras and
then to the mainland coast, where many still live in isolated villages. (Ref. 308 ([85]))
2.33 America: A.D. 1801 to 1900137
2.33.1 AMERICA
Back to America: A.D. 1701 to 1800 (Section 2.32)
2.33.1.1 NORTH AMERICA
2.33.1.1.1 THE FAR NORTH AND CANADA
2.33.1.1.1.1 ALASKA
The century opened with bloody warfare for the small Russian settlement at Fort St. Michael on Baranov Island,
when the Tlingits Indians massacred the men and carried off the women to their village at the site of present day
Sitka, in 1802. Two years later Baranov’s men, regrouped in kayaks and supported by a Russian warship, bombarded
Sitka and finally forced an Indian withdrawal. The Russians then built a new fort and in the years that followed the
missionary Father Ivan Veniaminov built a cathedral, started a seminary, saved the Tlingits from a small-pox epidemic
by vaccination, taught the Aleuts carpentry, blacksmithing and brickmaking, created an Aleut alphabet and with that
136 "A.D.
137 This
1701 to 1800" <http://cnx.org/content/m17729/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17802/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
172
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
translated the Gospels. Baranov was followed by 13 Russian governors, chiefly naval officers, but there was one prince
and one baron. Commerce with San Francisco was brisk, particularly during the latter’s gold-rush days. Among other
things, 20,000 tons of Alaskan ice, packed in sawdust, was sold in San Francisco at $35 a ton. The zenith of Russian
culture at Sitka was about 1820
The Kiksadi clan of Tlingits dominated the hinterland and thus the principal source of Russian food supply. Frequently
these clans mounted crippling raids against the Russian mainland settlements, some as late as 1866. Supply ships from
Russia had to go around the Cape of Good Hope and in some years none arrived. Many Russians died of scurvy before
they learned that potatoes and other vegetables could be grown in the far north. At one point, the Russians attempted
to solve their grain problem by establishing Fort Ross, only 90 miles north of the Spanish mission of San Francisco,
but the area was not very fertile and they sold out to John Sutter in 1841.
We mentioned in the last chapter that the Russians virtually enslaved the Aleuts, forcing 1/2 of all males between the
ages of 18 and 50 to work for very meager compensation. By this policy, along with disease and the use of the white
man’s firearms, the Aleut population had been reduced to about 1/10 of the original and the Eskimos on the mainland
had been cut to about 1/2 by 1857. A massive seal fur industry resulted when a machine was developed which removed
the outer layer of bristly guard hairs from the animal. A Moscow journal of 1835 boasted that between 1786 and 1832
there had been 3,178,561 Pribilof fur seals killed. Soon the yield decreased and both European and American fur
markets declined so that the fur based economy ceased to be very profitable. The worst losses were in the 1820s.
When Russia was defeated in the Crimean War in 1856 she was desperate for money, and that, along with an increasing
interest in China rather than America, was the big f actor leading to the sale of Alaska’s 375,000,000 acres to the United
States in 1867 for $7,200,000.
That purchase, arranged by Secretary of State William Henry Seward of the Andrew Johnson administration, resulted
in the name "Seward’s Folly" for that region for many years.
All was forgiven at the end of the century when the great Klondike and Nome gold rushes developed. (Ref. 234
([311]), 199 ([272]))
Alaska’s northwest contained some 24 Eskimo groups, all speaking related tongues.
Unlike their European and Siberian counterparts these Americans relied more on sea mammals than on the new world
reindeer (caribou). Seals, walruses and sea-lions supplied food, clothes, boats, tents and oil for lamps. Tendons were
used for sewing and bones took the place of wood. The Eskimos introduced umiaks (large, open, skin boats) and the
toggle-headed harpoon to the world. (Ref. 288 ([231]))
2.33.1.1.1.2 GREENLAND
Central Greenland remained the most inhospitable of all Arctic areas, but Eskimos did live all along the southern
coasts, both east and west, with a hybrid Eskimo-Danish culture. Due to an oversight at the Congress of Vienna
in 1815, when Norway was taken away from Denmark, this colony was overlooked and remained in Danish hands.
Administration was poor, however, and among other troubles the natives had a high incidence of tuberculosis. In far
northwest Greenland a group known simply as Polar Eskimos lived in complete isolation, using sea-mammal bones
for sled runners and using nets to catch cliff-dwelling birds. There were about 150 people there when Europeans
discovered them in 1818. (Ref. 38 ([59]), 288 ([231]))
2.33.1.1.1.3 CANADA
Arctic Canada had a mixture of Inuit (Eskimo) people living chiefly north of the tree-line and Arctic Indians living
just south of that region. Among the latter were the Kutchins, who walked hundreds of miles each summer after the
caribou herds. In winter they used snow-shoes and lived in domed caribou-skin tents or log and moss houses. They
traded with the Eskimos. Koyukon, Tchin and Chipwyan tribes were all part of those Kutchin people. Inuit Eskimos
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
173
lived on the Arctic Ocean coast line from Beaufort Sea to the Baff in Bay and Davis Strait as well as on the northern
shores of Hudson Bay. (Ref. 288 ([231]))
In 1825 British North America consisted of 2 major areas: First, there were the six settled provinces of Newfoundland,
Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Lower and Upper Canadas; and second there was all the remaining territory from Hudson’s Bay on west to the Pacific. The first 4 named were known as the Maritime provinces;
Lower Canada was later to become Quebec and had 625,000 chief Iy French people in 1841, while upper Canada later
became Ontario and had 455,700 population in the same year. The western territory was owned by the Hudson’s Bay
Company and the Northwest Company with the British government keeping some authority. Each province was ruled
by a local Tory oligarchy which supported the governor.
Occasionally an attempt to gain independence sprouted, such as the revolt promoted by Louis Joseph Papineau138 ,
an assemblyman, John Neilson, a Scots and Edmund O’Callaghan, an Irishman - in Quebec. Papineau’s fatal error
was in alienating priests by anticlerical outbursts and when the bishop came out against him, few French Canadians
would follow him. In Ontario an uprising of 1836 came nearer success. This was led by William Lyon MacKenzie of
Toronto and Marchall Bidwell, a fugitive from the United States. The rebels marched on Toronto, but were dispersed
by one volley from some militia. In May of 1838 Queen Victoria sent the young Earl of Durham to be commissioner
of British North America and he adopted a course of clemency to the rebels. Through his recommendations Canada
was given responsible government with a ministry responsible to an elective assembly. Nova Scotia obtained creditable government in 1848 without a rebellion through the statesmanship of Joseph Howe, son of a Bostonian. The
governments of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island underwent similar peaceful evolution.
In the 1850s Tsimshian Indians139 of coastal British Columbia were savage fighters engaging in ritual cannibalism and
they were finally "tamed" by a preacher, William Duncan, by 1862. He was later made governor of Vancouver. The
gold rush of Vancouver Island and the Fraser River area occurred in 1858. In the Great Plains were large numbers of
Catholic French Indians called "Metis". For 50 years they made yearly excursions in the plains to hunt buffalo and in
the middle of the century they were confronted by the Hudson Bay whites, who set up various rules and regulations,
which included the prohibiting of those people to trade with the Americans in St. Paul, Minnesota. This prairie land
(Rupert’s Land) was sold by the Hudson’s Bay Company for 300,000 to the New Dominion of Canada in 1869, just
2 years after that Dominion was established by the British North American Act. The sale remained unknown to the
6,000 French-speaking and 4,000 English-speaking mixed bloods and 1600 white settlers in the plains areas.
Louis Riel the Younger, 1/8 Chippewa, but educated in Montreal on a Catholic scholar- ship, became the Metis leader.
He rebuffed the government’s attempts to survey and reclaim the land, working out of his headquarters in Fort Garry,
which was later to become Winnepeg. Riel was hung as a traitor to the Dominion in 1885, 15 years after Manitoba
had become a province. Canadian Mounted Police had been formed and after the Metis were controlled, the great
nations of the Sioux had to be tamed and that included Sitting Bull, himself, who had gone to Canada after the famous
Custer massacre in the United States. The end result for these displaced Indians, however, was gradual starvation, as
civilization came west with the Canadian Pacific Railroad in the 1880s. We shall hear much more about earlier Indian
problems in the vicinity of the Great Lakes in later paragraphs. (Ref. 151 ([206]), 212 ([285]), 32 ([53]))
The formation of the Dominion resulted from three forces, the rise of Canadian nationalism, a desire of British liberals
to slough off colonial responsibilities and the ambition of some elements in the United States to annex Canada. The
constitution granted to the Dominion reserved the powers of government in the Parliament at Ottawa, but it failed to
quench provincialism, particularly among the French population, which considered itself a nation apart, and still does.
Like the United States, Canada had a depression in 1873, which lasted at least 20 years and slowed the growth of
that country considerably. It recovered only after the completion of the transcontinental Canadian Pacific Railway
in 1885, after years of financial and engineering difficulties. The election of 1896 brought Sir Wilfrid, a FrenchCanadian lawyer, to head the government as premier and his long administration saw a wave of prosperity as the prairie
138 Strangely enough, Papineau took no part in the actual uprisings, as he first fled to the United States for help and thwarted there, went on to
France. (Ref. 38)
139 Tsimshian culture was typical of Northwest Coast Indians and similar to that of the Haida and the Tlingit. (Ref. 38 ([59]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
174
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
provinces developed with their new railroad transportation system. Still, at the end of the century great expanses of
land in Canada were essentially uninhabited. Lands occupied by 1900 included a narrow strip along the St. Lawrence
River, Montreal and the eastern Great Lakes, then southern Manitoba, Saskatchewan and southeastern Alberta, with
Winnipeg as a wheat center being the only city of over 100,000 west of Toronto. (Ref. 151 ([206]), 8 ([14]))
We cannot leave the discussion of British Canada without reverting back to activities connected to the War of 1812
with the United States. As early as 1811 British Canadian officials believed that war was imminent and began to warn
Indians who were friendly to them. Chief among those were the Shawnees, who were led at that time by the mystic
Prophet Tenskwatawa and the latter mobilized many Ottawas, Potawatomis and Chippewas in the Lake Michigan
region. After some preliminary maneuvering actual land warfare began with the British and Indian forces defeating the
Americans at the battles of Brownstown, Monguagon and Fort Michilimackinac. On August 16th Governor William
Hull surrendered the American Fort Dearborn, just 24 hours after Potawatomis had killed most of the garrison. That
winter the Prophet had trouble feeding his people in the Indiana area, however, and as another American expedition
approached, he and most of his followers fled to Canada.
Knowing that the American Governor Harrison was preparing to recapture Detroit, the British commander Brigadier
General Henry Proctor launched offensive operations. While ships transported the British regular militia and artillery
across Lake Erie, the Prophet and his brother, Chief Tecumseh, led almost 1,200 Indians overland to the mouth of the
Maumee. The attack failed and a similar one launched July 21, 1813 also failed. Meanwhile on Lake Erie, Capt. Oliver
Perry’s fleet took on the British under Capt. Robert Barclay and destroyed them in a 3 hour battle at Put-in-Bay. On
land, Proctor talkea his Indians into withdrawing and preparing for new battle on the Thames River. In a great battle
about 2 miles west of Moraviantown almost all the British soldiers were killed or captured and the Indians scattered
through the forests. Tecumseh was shot down and the Indian remnant had only 374 warriors, with about 650 women
and children. The natives spent a miserable winter of 1813-1814 camped at the western end of Lake Ontario and the
British gave them just enough supplies to keep them from starving.
The war scene then seemed to shift to the Niagra frontier where the Iroquois were British allies. The Shawnees agreed
to join with the Iroquois, but they arrived a full day after the decisive Battle of Chippewa had ended. For 2 years the
British Indian Department had been hard pressed to feed all the exiles in Canada and they wanted them back in the
United States. It was not until the white immigration into upper Canada occurred in the decade after the Treaty of
Ghent, however, that the embittered Tenskwatawa severed his ties with the British Indian Department and returned to
the United States where, by 1819, he no longer seemed a threat. (Ref. 293 ([84]))
2.33.1.1.2 THE UNITED STATES
It is not a simple matter to scan the history of the United States in the 19th century in an outline form. The War
between the States seems to make a natural break-point, with the situations before and after the war quite different.
With this in mind we shall divide this section accordingly.
2.33.1.1.2.1 THE UNITED STATES BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
2.33.1.1.2.1.1 THE EAST
Presidential candidates for the election of 1800 were selected by party caucuses in Congress, with no public electioneering and no speeches or statements by the candidates. Even so, the politicians managed to make it a scurrilous
campaign with the Republican winner, Jefferson, being accused of being a Jacobin, an atheist and a French agent.
Jefferson himself believed that his election saved the country from militarism and monarchy. As for "monarchy", it
was Jefferson who founded the "Virginia Dynasty" consisting of 4 presidents, who reigned for almost a third of a
century. Each of these administrations will be briefly discussed.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
175
2.33.1.1.2.1.1.1 THOMAS JEFFERSON ADMINISTRATION (1801-1808) 3rd President
By 1803 a doctor in backwoods Kentucky had vaccinated 500 people for small-pox. Through the Napoleonic Wars, the
United States attempted a neutrality policy, but she could not avoid some combat with the pirates of Tripoli between
1801 and 1804, as we noted on page 1051. Meanwhile, the boundary of the nation went west to the Rocky Mountains
through the purchase of the Louisiana territory from Napoleon for $16,000,000, since the little emperor was afraid
Britain would soon pluck it from him anyway. But we shall discuss this more in a later paragraph when we outline
the Mississippi valley region. (Ref. 140 ([190]), 151 ([206])) Jefferson himself was a most complex man and we have
noted many of his characteristics on page 1028. A few additional remarks may be of interest here. The existence of his
mulatto children was made public by the journalist James Thomas Callender in 1802 and again by the New England
Palladium in 1805. In the field of religion, he re-wrote the New Testament, leaving out all mysticism, Virgin Birth,
miracles, etc., entitling the work The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth. It was not published until after his death. As
this man and his party gained power, the New England Federalists and their clergy worried about terror, atheism and
free-love resulting from all this triumph of democracy. Alexander Hamilton, rising in stature on the political scene,
truly expected Jefferson’s regime to end in anarchy like the French Republic and he was ready to step in as the United
States Bonaparte. He was killed in a duel by Aaron Burr, the vice-president, who was politically dead, himself, after
that duel. Burr, 1806, tried to hatch a conspiracy against the United States from the region of New Orleans and that
lead to a treason charge, from which he was finally freed by the work of his attorney, John Marshall. Burr left for
Europe, there to try still more conspiracies unsuccessfully and finally returned to the United States in disguise in 1812.
(Ref. 151 ([206]), 123 ([171]))
To go back a few years, Jefferson, concerned with the European situation which saw Napoleon still strong and the
British navy supreme, built up the federal government to cope. But high wages in the United States navy and merchant
marine began to attract deserters from the Royal Navy, so that the latter soon began to use that as an excuse to stop
neutral U.S. ships and search them for deserters. Such an episode in June 1807, involving the U.S.S. Chesapeake,
brought the new country and Britain to the brink of war. (Ref. 151 ([206]))
2.33.1.1.2.1.1.2 JAMES MADISON ADMINISTRATION(1809-1815) 4th President
In 1808 Congress had passed a law against the importation of slaves, but it was not strictly enforced because Eli
Whitney’s cotton gin initially made slave labor in the fields seem even more needed. In addition the invention of
the gin introduced the principle of mass production to America, a feature which led to the Colt revolver, the sewing
machine and the flour mill, revolutionizing the status of human labor, particularly in the western world and still more
especially in the northern states. The north welcomed the Industrial Revolution while the south rejected it. After Jean
Etienne Bore had demonstrated how to make granulated sugar from cane, a great sugar empire began to stretch along
the Gulf. With the development of a steamboat which could go upstream against the Mississippi current, the sugar
was sent to St. Louis, Louisville and Cincinnati for refining. (Ref. 39 ([60]))
Although a great statesman, Madison was a poor politician and as a result of his ineptitude and Napoleon’s maneuverings, difficulties with England increased. Both French and English navies were seizing and even scuttling American
vessels. In 1811 Madison forbade all intercourse with England and as Napoleon had closed all Europe to Britain at the
same time, it made for a very bad winter in England. By 1812 the United States and England were at war.
In the meantime, as the Spanish Empire appeared to be breaking up, the inhabitants of "West Florida" elected for
the United States and were soon incorporated as the Territory of Orleans (later part of the state of Louisiana. We
must also discuss the Indian situation in the Ohio and Indiana regions at this time. By 1800 many Indians were
ready to try the white man’s ways. Late in 1801 a delegation of chiefs from the Potawatomis, Miamis, Delawares,
Shawnees, Kickapoos and Kaskaskias visited the east and two of the chief s asked for government assistance. As a
result, during that first decade of the century the federal government and various religious organizations sent funds,
farming implements and advisors to those tribes. Yet most of the programs were mismanaged and unscrupulous
agents even sold the farm implements to white settlers. But primarily the Indians themselves could not become
adjusted to the new ways. The Shawnees, early known as the "Southerners" by other Algonquian-speaking peoples
shared the same problems. Branches of this tribe were scattered across the south, the Gulf Coast, the Delaware Valley,
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
176
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
Georgia and South Carolina at various periods. In this century many were settled in Ohio and Indiana when the
white citizens there declared an "open season" on Shawnee property. That, along with Shawnee excessive drinking,
economic difficulties and various injustices led to deterioration of relationships. Some of these Shawnees, including a
young prince, Tecumseh, had fought against the Americans under "Mad Anthony" Wayne at the end of the last century.
Now Tecumseh’s brother Tenskwatawa, a Shawnee holy man, sought to save his people with a new mystic religion.
Claiming that he had been appointed by the Great Spirit he established Prophetstown near where the Tippecanoe joins
the Wabash River, denounced alcohol and polygamy and set up certain rituals. The future president William Henry
Harrison kept pushing his land acquisitions and further antagonizing various tribes, all of which soon began to accept
the new Shawnee religion and join the groups at Prophetstown. The Kickapoos, Potawatomis, Ottawas, Chippewas,
Crees, Winnebagos, Sacs, Miamis and Assiniboins were all converts. By 1807 Prophetstown had over 60 cabins and
wigwams clustered around a frame council-house measuring about 150 by 34 feet. William Wells, the Indian agent at
Fort Wayne, warned both then Governor Harrison and the Secretary of War that the Prophet constituted a serious threat
and it was certainly true that most of these Indians had begun to sympathize more with the British in Canada than with
the "Long Knives" Americans. Only the Shawnee clan led by Chief Black Hoof remained loyal to the United States.
(Ref. 293 ([84]))
But the Prophet began to have trouble feeding his hordes at his "holy city" and when the Ottawas and Chippewas near
Lake Michigan defected, Harrison thought that the Shawnee leader was slipping and he made plans for further land
encroachment. In September 1809 he signed a Treaty of Fort Wayne with Miamis, Delawares and some Potawatomis,
obtaining over 3,000,000 acres of land in Indiana and Illinois. The Shawnees were incensed and Tecumseh set out
south to try to gather more of his scattered kinsmen for a final confrontation. He also visited the British at Malden and,
as we noted on page 1139, the British, foreseeing possible war with the United States, began to court these Indians,
sending them food, arms and ammunition. Finally in the fall of 1811, after several unsuccessful conferences, Harrison
started north from Vincennes with an army to put an end to Prophetstown. The famous Battle of Tippecanoe began in
the early morning of November 7, 1811.
"Harrison described the battle as a ’complete and decisive’ American victory, and three decades later he would gain
the presidency as ’Old Tippecanoe’, a military hero who had soundly beaten the Indians on the Wabash. But a closer
examination of the battle and its outcome indicates that Harrison’s claims were exaggerated. Both white and Indian
losses were much the same. The American force numbered close to 1,000 officers and men. They suffered 188
casualties, of which at least 62 were fatal. The number of Indians engaged in the contest is much more difficult to
ascertain, but there were probably between 600 and 700 warriors. Reports of Indian casualties also vary widely, but
probably at least fifty were killed and seventy were wounded.”140
2.33.1.1.2.1.1.3 THE WAR OF 1812
War was declared on the basis of the impressment of American seamen, repeated violations of American territorial
rights and alleged blockading of the American coast. Although New England, where 3/4 of the American shipping
was owned and which supplied most of the seamen, wanted no part of the war141 , the war-hawks thought the fight,
if successful, would result in the conquering of Canada, end the Indian menace and throw more western land open.
Many politicians, including William Henry Harrison, had already grabbed land in the amount of about 48,000,000
acres between 1795 and 1809. The belief of many that Britain was behind the Shawnee Confederacy just described
above, helped force the declaration of war on June 18th. Greatly outnumbered, the one saving fact for the United
States navy vessels was that the Royal Navy was so deeply engaged in war at the same time with France and could
spare only 1 ship of the line, 7 frigates and a number of smaller ships to operate off the American coast. The British did
blockade much of the east coast and there was action, as we have seen (pages 1139-40) on and around the Great Lakes.
The war was unpopular everywhere, perhaps due to poor leadership from Madison. After Napoleon’s abdication in
April, 1814, Britain was able to provide Canada with an adequate army and things changed rapidly, with the British
war office planning a three pronged invasion attack - at Niagara, Lake Champlain and New Orleans - as well as raiding
at Chesapeake. A British raiding party did enter Washington, ate at the White House (which Madison had evacuated)
140 Quotation
141 When
from Edmunds (Ref. 293 ([84])), page 115)
the president ordered the militia of the northern states to the frontiers, Connecticut and Massachusetts refused to obey. (Ref. 217 ([68]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
177
and burned all public buildings of the capitol. Otherwise execution was poor, however, and the final New Orleans
attack was thwarted by General Andrew Jackson, although unknown to those participants, the peace had already been
signed in Ghent.
After the war there was a great stimulus to manufacturing and by 1815 there were 500,000 spindles in operation. The
Federalist New Englanders were actually talking about secession at that time, but the Republicans of the same area
kept the activity under control. Those two parties continued to struggle for a quarter of a century. (Ref. 151 ([206]))
In 1814 General Andrew Jackson had defeated the Creeks at Horseshoe Bend near the border of Georgia and Alabama
and so, after his defeat of the British at-New Orleans in the following year, the United States was well in control of the
old "southwest". (Ref. 151 ([206]), 39 ([60]))
2.33.1.1.2.1.1.4 JAMES MONROE ADMINISTRATION (1817-1824) 4th President
Except for the Monroe Doctrine, the Supreme Court decisions of Chief Justice Marshall were the only enduring feature
of the new nationalism of 1815 and after. The decisions included the defense of the constitutionality of the new Bank
of the U.S., the right of the Supreme Court to review state court decisions concerning treaties or laws affecting the
nation and finally the denial of the states to withhold militia from national service when demanded by the president.
Henry Clay and John Calhoun were nationalist leaders in Congress at that time and both feared sectionalism. A postwar depression appeared in 1819 and in the recovery period, the question of slavery arose, with both sides threatening
secession. In fear, Congress passed the Missouri Compromise, in which Missouri was admitted to the union as a slave
state, but slavery was prohibited thereafter in any area north of Missouri’s southern border, latitude 36⇠ 30". At the
same time, Maine, which had just detached itself from Massachusetts, was admitted, thus making 12 free and 12 slave
states.
It is appropriate here to return momentarily to the Indian situation in the southeast United States. In spite of all
contact with Christianity the Southern Indians clung to many of their ancient rituals, especially the "bush" or annual
Green Corn Festival, which lasted for several days after the new corn ripened and homage was paid to the Sun, Corn
and similar Indian deities. However, many of the Indians and mestizos lived among the colonists, merged into the
white culture and in time forgot their language and traditions. Genetically they had considerable impact, far more
than is generally realized. After their many troubles more than 500 Creek survivors congregated in southern Alabama
near Atmore, where for decades they lived near whites and Negroes. Each had its own school system, although the
whites were dominant and discriminated against both ⇠he other groups. But mixing was considerable and today
many of the "whites" in this area are in part Creek. All Indians were not exterminated by disease, warfare or-the later
transfer west. In part they remained in the south, partly absorbed and helping to create 1 9th century "Negroes". Even
Alex Haley, author of Roots, has Indian forebears. In the 1920s the anthropologist Melvill Herskovits made a random
anthropometric survey of students at Howard University in Washington D.C. and of a selected groups of Negroes living
in Harlem. One-third of each group displayed physical characteristics of Indian ancestry. In 1947 the historian August
Meier made a genealogical survey of Negro college students in the southern heartland of Mississippi and adjoining
states. On a large sample, 70% had Indian ancestors142 . Thus right (Ref. 267 ([321])) feels that the American black
is not an African black but actually a new race. It is difficult to determine the extent of Indian blood in the American
Negro because one does not have any of the Timucuans, Stonos, Occaneechees and other extinct tribes to study and
present day Powhatans and Cherokees are not the same as those found at the time of first white contact.
In the United States early the word "slave" became synonymous with "black", "African" or "nigger" and since there
were many Indian slaves, they were of ten subject to the same names and, in fact, considered the same. Actually
genetically the southern Negro was a product of Africans, whites and Indians. After slave importation from Africa
was outlawed and Indian slave raids in the South had become relatively insignificant, the percentage of males among
those races of the south changed. The male Africans decreased in percentage while the male Indians increased. The
famed Seminole Chief Osceola’s spouse, or at least one of them, in all probability was a Negro and his father in
all likelihood was white. A physical anthropologist who has examined Osceloa’s bones has speculated that he had
African forebears as well. Many modern Negroes are doubtless correct in claiming direct descent from that great
142 These
remarks are taken from Wright (Ref. 267 ([321])), pages 250 and 251)
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
178
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
Seminole warrior. As the Cherokees became increasingly cultured, they adopted white attitudes toward Negroes, but
it was different among the Seminoles. Both slave and free Africans lived among them and indeed were a part of the
Seminoles and their presence became more conspicuous during the 19th century Seminole wars. In 1818 General
Andrew Jackson stormed into Spanish Florida and his major objective was Bowlegs Town, a sizable Negro settlement
on the Suwannee River. (Ref. 267 ([321]))
As Monroe’s Secretary of State, in December, 1823, John Quincy Adams insisted that the president issue what became
known as the Monroe Doctrine. As a warning to European pawers who might have designs on any of the new central
and south American governments and to Russia, who was claiming new territory on the Canadian coast, the doctrine
may be summarized as follows:
1. The American continent was not to be considered as subject for future colonization by European powers
2. The U.S. would not interfere with any existing European colonies
2.33.1.1.2.1.1.5 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS (1825-29) A minority president
Adams was a great patriot and wanted to use federal revenue to increase the navy, build national roads and canals,
send out scientific expeditions and establish institutions of learning and research, but most of these things were not to
materialize for some years to come.
2.33.1.1.2.1.1.6 ANDREW JACKSON (OLD HICKORY) (1829-37) 6th President and MARTIN VAN BUREN
(1837-41) 7th President
This was the era of the great political figures - Adams, Clay, Webster, Van Buren and Calhoun, and it marked the
beginning of the modern Democratic political party. The Adams - Jackson political campaign of 1828 was the most
degrading experience of an election that the United States had experienced. Jackson was ill-educated, intolerant
and rough, yet professing the principles of the Declaration of Independence and devoted to the union. Jacksonian
democracy was the upsurge of a new generation of recently enfranchised voters against a somewhat ossified Jefferson
Republican party. (Ref. 151 ([206])) Jackson Democrats believed in equality only for white men and they introduced
the spoils system into federal government, catered to mediocrity and diluted politics with the incompetent and the
corrupt. The jackass as a symbol of the Democratic party was first used by the opposing Whigs as a satire on the
supposed ignorance of "Old Hickory". Two vital issues of that time were:
1. Nullification. First set forth in the Exposition of 1828 by the legislature of South Carolina, this stated that each
state had the right to judge when its "agent", the federal government, exceeded its powers and then to take
measures to prevent enforcement within state limits. Calhoun was the secret author. Jackson threatened the use
of army and navy in a showdown in 1833 and South Carolina backed down
2. The Bank of the United States. Jackson forced the demise of the previously well run U.S. Bank by denying it
government funds. Local banks, released from control, increased paper credit for speculation in western lands
and shortly there- after the financial panic of 1837 burst upon the country. Van Buren, a shrewd, able and
dignified president spent the whole of his administration developing a substitute for the Bank of the United
States. He was also the principal architect of the modern American political party
Andrew Jackson hated the British and all Indians, due to several unfortunate incidents in his childhood. It was an
almost foregone conclusion, therefore, that when the whites wanted more land for cotton in the south that Jackson
should outlaw the tribal kingdoms of the Choctaws, Creeks, Chickasaws and Cherokees in Mississippi, Alabama and
Georgia. The Indians appealed to the Supreme Court and Chief Justice John Marshall upheld their claim, but Jackson
paid no attention and ordered the army "to get them out". 30,000 of those Indians were driven, one way or another on
the "Trail of Tears" to Oklahoma and one quarter of them died on the trip. (Ref. 151 ([206]), 39 ([60])) The common
impression that after the 1830s all Southern Indians had been either killed or removed to Oklahoma is misleading,
however, because some 74,000 are still present in the South today, living in loose, ill-defined clusters, such as the
Creeks around Poarch, Alabama and the Lumbees south of Fayetteville, North Carolina or on reservations. It was
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
179
during Jackson’s administration that the Second Seminole War was fought in 1835. Abolitionists charged that this
was really not an Indian but a Negro war, resulting from southern white determination to capture and enslave NegroSeminoles. Many parallels exist between the maroon wars in Jamaica (see page 1035) and the several Seminole wars
fought in Florida, Georgia and Alabama. (Ref. 267 ([321])) Additional Notes (p. 194)
2.33.1.1.2.1.1.7 WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON & JOHN TYLER (1841-1845) Whig party
We have previously noted that Harrison was elected, in great part, on the basis of his questionable victory over the
Indians at Tippecanoe. (See pages 1143-44). Upon Harrison’s early death, his vice-president, John Tyler, succeeded to
the presidency, both of them representing those old Jefferson Republicans who would not follow Jackson. They were
helped by a few remnants of the old Federalists.
The next several presidents of the eastern establishment contributed few major policies or advancements to the nation.
JAMES K. POLK (1845-49), a Democrat, did bait Mexico in order to win California. This will be discussed in a
later section on "Texas and Mexican War". He was followed by GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR, (1849-50), a
Whig whose chief fame was that he was president during the period of the California gold rush, which will also
be described later. MILLARD FILMORE, (1850-53) was a Whig who became president upon Taylor’s death and
signed the compromise bill admitting California and Texas as states and the organization of New Mexico and Utah
as territories free to enter the Union without reference to slavery. His administration was the last of the Whig party,
as FRANKLIN PIERCE (1853-57) was then elected as a Democrat. During his administration, Daniel Webster was
Secretary of State and it was the time of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, which will be mentioned in a later paragraph.
JAMES BUCHANAN was elected for one term as a Democrat in 1857 and slavery was the real issue of that campaign
as the slave trade continued, even though it had been illegal since Fillmore’s administration. Between 1840 and 1847
some 440,000 slaves were illicitly exported to the United States, Cuba and Brazil. In 18 months of 1859 and 1860
some 85 slave ships were fitted out in New York City, alone. (Ref. 151 ([206]))
We have very briefly covered the political and governmental situation up to the time approaching the Civil War, but
we need to find out more about how people lived in that time. Cholera ravaged the entire country three times in this
century and yellow fever hit the northeast early and then the southern and Gulf of Mexico ports, with a peak in 1860.
(Ref. 125 ([173])) Northern U.S. society experienced the industrial revolution, cheap transportation, educational and
migratory movements and those things influenced the border states somewhat, but the lower south was entirely apart,
as was the far west and the southwest. Thus we shall now discuss the various parts of the country separately.
First the north. This was a busy age, with every northern community a human ant-hill of activity. Most white workers
still worked 63 hours a week and 18% of all children were still employed. Everything was business, there were no
public parks or pleasure resorts, few games or sports. Sculling in the eastern harbors was the only competitive sport,
trotting horse races about the only entertainment. As early as 1856 there were 38 trotting courses of national repute
in the northern area. Medicine was bad and anyone wanting a good medical education had to go to Austria or France.
Tuberculosis, cholera, typhus and yellow fever killed thousands. Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes did write on puerperal
fever in 1842, antedating Semmelweis by 4 years, but few believed him. Dr. William W. Gerhard of Philadelphia did
a fine study of cerebral meningitis in 1834 and later distinguished typhus and typhoid fevers. Dr. Crawford W. Long
of Georgia, in 1842 and Dr. W.T.C. Morton of Massachusetts, in 1846 successfully used ether for anesthesia. Dr.
Philip Physick of Philadelphia established surgery as a specialty and the American Medical Association was founded
in 1847.
City water systems and sanitation were crude or absent. Philadelphia pioneered with pumping water from the
Schuylkill River and by 1830 could deliver 6,000,000 gallons of water daily. But Chicago, owing to difficulty of
drainage, had practically no plumbing until 1861. Boston, with a population of 165,000 in 1857 had only 6,500 toilets,
of which 8, in the basement of the Tremont House, served 200 to 300 guests. Illuminating gas was fairly common by
1860 and 337 cities had it piped in from central plants using coal. Although the district of Michigan only had 31639
people in 1832, there were 940 miles of post roads. (Ref. 151 ([206]), 217 ([68]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
180
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
Immigr2tion from Europe accelerated. In the 1830s there were 540,000 newcomers with 44% Irish, 30% German
and 15% English, but by 1840 the number rose to 2,814,554 in the following decade. Almost all arrived and stayed
in the north and almost all became Jackson Democrats through the planned manipulations of the party hacks. Irish
immigrants comprised 34% of all voters in New York City in 1855, but they contributed little to American economic
or intellectual life. Ugly racial and religious riots arose in the eastern cities at least once every decade.
The factory system for cotton spinning and weaving became well established in New England, so that by 1840 there
were 1,200 cotton factories, operating 2,250,000 spindles in the United States, 2/3 of these in New England. By
1850 there were over 1,500 woolen mills. These and other mills were operated largely by water power. In 1860
manufacturing produced $1,000,000,000. The iron industry developed very slowly. It has been written that the Atlantic
towns heated their houses with coal brought 3,000 miles from England rather than by wood from their own forests
30 miles away, because sea transportation was that much cheaper than overland. Steam-ships were not in use at the
time of those comments. (Ref. 213 ([288]), 260 ([29])) Still there were hard times between 1837 and 1841 and
westward migration accelerated. Canal and railroad construction created a demand for cheap labor and made it easier
for people to reach the west. The-states built their own canals, roads and railroads. Ohio linked the Great Lakes with
the Mississippi valley; the Erie canal connected Buffalo to New York City.
By 1820 New York State’s population of 1,372,812 was in first place and the increase in inhabitants of New York
City was phenomenal. By 1850 there were 515,547 people in the city proper plus 96,838 in Brooklyn. Fortunes were
accumulated there, but culture was deficient. Columbia University, the only college present until 1831, graduated
only about 24 a year. New York University and Fordham added a very few more after 1841. Upstate New York,
however, was well provided with denominational colleges. The most original contribution to higher education was
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, founded at Troy in 1824, the precursor of all the subsequent engineering and technical
universities. An interesting aside is the final disposition of the great Dutch estates along the Hudson. Their lands
had been rented out in an old feudal type system that involved peculiar considerations. With the death of Stephen
Van Rensselaer, "the last patroon" in 1839, a rebellion broke out among his renters, when his sons tried to collect
thousands of dollars of back rent. This forced New York legislation modifying the rent and lease laws and systems.
Intellectuals of New York State were plentiful, including Clement C. Moore, Professor of Hebrew and Greek, who
wrote "The Night Before Christmas"; William Cullen Bryant, America’s greatest poet; Edgar Allen Poe; Henry W.
Longfellow and Nathaniel Hawthorne. The artist Colonel John Trumbull of Connecticut painted the "Declaration of
Independence" and "Battle of Bunker Hill". John Lloyd Stephens founded American archeology after trips to the old
Maya scenes in Central America and Yucatan.
In other fields, Abbe Sicard established the first American school for the deaf at Hartford and Samuel Howe and
Michael Anagnos founded the Perkins Institute for the blind. Women’s suffrage movements were initiated as early as
1848. Many "isms" appeared, not the least of which was Joseph Smith’s Mormon faith. In 1836 Emerson published
"Essay on Nature", opening the period of transcendentalism, a belief in the divinity of human nature. In the same
generation there were Hawthorne, Thoreau and the Alcotts.
By 1850 there had been formulated three basic principles of education:
1. Free primary and secondary schools should be available for all children
2. teachers should have professional training
3. all children should be required to attend some school- up to a certain age
By 1840 over 150 small denominational colleges were in existence in the country. American science soon became
specialized. Joseph Henry discovered the electromagnet and many other features of electricity and Samuel F.B. Morse
used the former to develop the telegraph. Charles Goodyear had patented the vulcanization of rubber by 1844. The
Smithsonian Institute was started in 1846 with Joseph Henry as its first director. Only astronomy lagged and this was
due to the effect of organized religion, which considered probing the heavens with a telescope as mildly blasphemous.
And now we must consider life in the American south. We have already discussed the Indian-Negro situation at some
length on pages 1115 and 1116. "Cotton was king in the south from 1815 to 1861, and the principle bulwark of his
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
181
throne was Negro slavery"143 . By 1860 the crop was almost 2,300,000,000 pounds, accounting for 2/3 of the total
exports of the United States and 5/6 of the world’s production. In that harvest 4,000,000 slaves were used. A prime
field hand 18 to 25 years old was worth $500 in 1832 and $1.300 just before the panic of 1837, although their yearly
maintenance cost only $15 to $60. Morison (Ref. 151 ([206])) says that 13% of all Negroes in the U.S. in 1860 were
mulattoes, but as we have seen, later writers might put this much higher, especially if one adds in Indian blood. The
south was ruled by a few but strong classical southern gentlemen, of which only a few descended from the colonial
aristocracy. The great mass of wealthy planters by 1860 were self-made men like Jefferson Davis, whose parents had
lived in log cabins. There were probably fewer than 15,000 families of the southern white gentry and most of the
white southerners were small farm owners. The latter were actually the governing class in Alabama, Mississippi and
Arkansas. About half the cotton crop was made by those who owned from 1 to 6 slaves. Whites were forbidden to
teach slaves to read and write in every southern state except Maryland, Kentucky and Tennessee. (Ref. 151 ([206])) In
contrast to this slavery in America we should recall that although slavery was almost universal in more ancient times,
the slaves then were of the same race as their masters, of ten the better educated and usually could work or buy their
way out of slavery eventually. In the U.S., slavery was fatally united with the permanent, physical fact of color. (Ref.
217 ([68])) A slave rebellion led by Nat Turner in Virginia in 1831 resulted in the deaths of 57 whites and perhaps up
to 100 Negroes before it could be put down by regular troops and navy personnel. Elsewhere in America slaves were
being freed, in the British colonies in 1833, the French Antilles in 1848 and the Spanish republics in turn between
1813 and 1854. Only in a few Spanish and Dutch islands, the United States and Brazil did slavery continue after 1854.
Some effort had been made to return blacks to Africa by the American Colonization Society, but by 1855 only 3,600
had been sent. This did help the Republic of Liberia to form a constitution patterned on the U. S. model, however, in
1857.
There was little literary, scientific or artistic production from the prewar south, with the exception of some outstanding
"firsts" in medicine. Ephraim McDowell (trained at the University of Edinburgh) developed an international reputation
in abdominal surgery, while J. Marion Sims, practicing in Alabama, laid the basis for the specialty of gynecology. As
noted previously, Dr. Crawford Long of Georgia used ether for anesthesia in 1842, but he did not publicize his
discovery for several years. The first dental school in the world was established in Baltimore in 1839. (Ref. 125
([173])) The south’s one scientific achievement was Commander Matthew Fontaine Maury’s Physical Geography of
the Sea (1855), which marked him as the world’s greatest oceanographer. Most of the south’s energy, however, seemed
to be devoted to backing up John Calhoun’s ridiculous pro-slavery doctrines. Even in religion the southerners were
different. Both the southern divisions of the Methodist and Baptist churches defended slavery. There were many
reasons for the great resistance to the emancipation of the slaves. We have already noted that the invention of the
cotton gin, which made cultivation of upland cotton by slaves profitable, was one factor. Jacksonian Democracy was
another great influence, because of the rise of provincial, ill-educated politicians, who catered to the prejudices of
the middle class and poor whites. Instead of preparing the south for the inevitable emancipation, those men flattered
people into the fatal belief in the righteousness of slavery.
2.33.1.1.2.1.2 THE MIDDLE WEST AND THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE REGION
In this section we shall be concerned primarily with the territory gained through the "Louisiana Purchase" and what
we currently consider the Middle West. We have infringed somewhat on this by discussing pre-war features in Ohio,
Indiana and Illinois, but in this 1 9th century it seemed that those regions were more closely linked with the traditional
EAST.
There were many reasons for Napoleon’s sale of the Louisiana Territory - his need for money, his fear that Britain
would otherwise soon take it from him, and his General Leclerc’s recent loss of 24,000 men over a 9 month period to
disease and the arms of 500,000 black Haitians, who would not be enslaved. The legality of the sale was questionable,
however, as the area was still in the hands of Spain, even though the French claimed that Spain had ceded the area
to Napoleon in a secret treaty of 1801. At the time the contested region was an unmanned, undefended empire with
the whole watershed of the Mississippi and comprising the present states of Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, both
the Dakotas. Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana, - that is, one-third of North
143 Quotation
from Reference 151, page 500
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
182
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
America. The sale price of $16,000,000 actually amounted to 4 cents an acre. After the purchase, President Jefferson
then appointed Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, along with a 16 year old Shoshone Indian girl and her FrenchCanadian husband as guides and interpreters, to survey the new purchase. They left St. Louis in May of 1804. (Ref.
151 ([206]), 123 ([171]), 39 ([60]))
The boundaries of the Louisiana territory were actually very poorly defined except in the east and south, where the
Mississippi and Red rivers respectively served as "natural barriers". On the west the border was the Rocky Mountains,
whatever line that might indicate, and on the north there was even less definition, with mention of a border in the
vicinity of the origin of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. By this century, the Sioux
Indians, who had been in the Michigan region in the early 1 7th century, then in Minnesota late in that century, had
gone on to the Black Hills of South Dakota in the 18th century, driving out the Cheyenne and the Kiowa. In this 19th
century they inhabited large areas of the north Great Plains and western prairies of Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, North
and South Dakota, as well as some regions in Canada. There were 7 tribes with a total of about 30,000 people. Like
the Shawnees, most of them supported the British in the War of 1812. Treaties of one sort and another were signed
with the United States in 1815, 1825, and 1851. (Ref. 38 ([59]))
Even after the United States acquired Missouri in the Louisiana Purchase, French influence remained dominant in that
region. But Americans began to filter in, particularly in the regions of the lead mines at Ste. Genevieve and Potosi.
By the time of the Lewis and Clark expedition St. Louis was already notable as the gateway to the Far West. Later
St. Joseph, Missouri was the supply center for the gold rush "49ers" and over 50,000 emigrants went through that
city of only 3,000 permanent people. (Ref. 38 ([59]), 39 ([60])) On his return from Canada the Shawnee Prophet,
Tenskwatawa, led his people into Missouri, but they met some resistance from local tribes and the whites and late in
1827 they left St. Louis, en route for Kansas. (Ref. 293 ([84])) We have mentioned the admission of Missouri as a
state of the Union and the politics involved in the "Missouri Compromise" on page 1145. Settlement quickened after
the 1820s and many German immigrants arrived in the 1840s and 1850s.
In the early century part of the mid-west was not very enticing. De Tocqueville (Ref. 218 ([69])) describes all the land
which is now Oklahoma, Kansas, southern Nebraska, the panhandle of Texas and eastern Colorado and New Mexico
as a desert, generally covered with sand incapable of cultivation’ In the decade following 1821 some 271 steamboats
were launched on the Mississippi and its tributaries. (Ref. 217 ([68])) The treeless prairies were not well settled
down to 1850, but then new machinery such as McCormick’s mechanical reaper, Marsh’s harvester, the steel-toothed
cultivator, etC., along with the rising price of wheat up to $2.50 a bushel in 1855 and the building of railroads into
the prairie country, stimulated a great proliferation of farmers. Politics was involved in the building of the railroads as
well as the bill for the organization of the Great Plains as the "Territory of Nebraska" in 1854 and Stephen Douglas of
Illinois was a promoter of both. The political issue was again slavery and its relation to the new Territory and the old
Missouri Compromise (see page 1145). The old "Northwest" seethed with indignation over the Kansas-Nebraska Act
which nullified the Missouri Compromise and was ripe to form a new anti-slavery party - a new "Republican" one. In
Kansas itself, slavery and anti-slavery immigrants actually came to war, anticipating the Civil War and federal troops
had to restore order. The two contending groups then each held conventions asking for statehood. The anti-slavery
Topeka convention was rejected by the Senate in 1856 and the Le Compton Constitution was accepted.
Some of the Creeks, Cherokees and other southern Indians had migrated on their own to Oklahoma as early as 1818,
and then, of course, Andrew Jackson moved hundreds there during his administration. After the Creeks had relocated
in Oklahoma, supposedly not 1% could prove that they had no mixed blood. In many instances, this eventually resulted
in a reversal of the old Indian matrilineal society and that created much tension. As early as 1819 the Cherokee Council
had specifically prohibited white men from disposing of their Indian wives’ property. (Ref. 267 ([321])) Settling on the
hills and meadow lands in the eastern section of Oklahoma territory, the so-called "Five Civilized Tribes"144 formed
organized states and communities. They clashed some with the Plains Indians, particularly the Osage, but they were
pretty well free of white interference before the Civil War.
144 The Cherokees particularly had a highly Europeanized culture, with a written language, invented by their great leader Sequoyah, before their
western travels. (Ref. 38 ([59])) See also pages 1201-1202
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
183
2.33.1.1.2.1.3 THE SOUTHWEST (TEXAS, NEW MEXICO & THE MEXICAN WAR)
In 1805 a "neutral ground" was established as a buffer zone between the United States and Mexico in the area between
the Sabine River in the west and the Arroyo Hondo, a tributary of the Red River in the east. This soon became a haven
for outlaws. In 1820 New Mexico, which then included Arizona and Texas, was a frontier province of Mexico and the
latter country encouraged emigration from the United States. In 1821 Stephen F. Austin, taking over a grant which had
been given to his father, settled 300 U.S. families in the most fertile region of Texas and by 1834 his colony comprised
some 20,000 whites and 2,000 slaves, outnumbering the native Mexicans in Texas by 4 to 1. By the following year there
were 28,000 North Americans and to these were soon added swashbucklers like Sam Houston, David Burnet, Branch
Archer, Davy Crockett and the Bowie brothers of long knife fame. When Mexican President Santa Anna proclaimed
the constitution of 1835, sweeping away state rights within the Mexican domain, the North Americans in Texas, led
by Austin, expelled the Mexican garrison from San Antonio de Bexar and seceded, declaring Texas’ independence.
Santa Anna responded by crossing the Rio Grande with 3,000 men, besieging the 200 Texans at the Alamo fortress,
killing them all. Already the colonists had proclaimed an independent Republic of Texas, elected David Gouverneur
Burnet president ad interim and put Generalissimo Sam Houston in charge of troops. The latter defeated Santa Anna
near the present day city of Houston and after quarreling with Burnet, he became the next president of the Lone Star
Republic, which was recognized by President Jackson of the U.S. in 1837. The white population was barely 50,000
and the finances were poor.
Annexation to the United States was a solution to the Texas problems, but such occurred only after much bickering. It
was finally hastily arranged after influential southern editors and politicians feared that the Republic of Texas would
abolish slavery and they wanted Texas for a slave state, to balance the northern abolitionist ones. President Tyler
arranged the annexation in 1845. The Mexican War, which broke out shortly thereafter may have resulted because
President James Polk goaded Mexico into war in order to win California for the U.S. He had tried to buy California,
unsuccessfully, so he took advantage of some debt repudiations by Mexico to put further pressure on the Mexican
government, for collection. At the same time another Mexican revolution occurred and the new government there was
spoiling for a fight. Polk ordered troops across the Rio-Grande on January 13, 1846 and the war was on. It had little
support in the east but was popular in the Mississippi Valley, where the army received 49,000 volunteers. In March of
1847 General Winfield Scott landed 3 miles from Vera Cruz with an army, then marched to Mexico City along the old
Spanish invasion trail and by September Mexico had surrendered. By the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) New
Mexico (including most of Arizona145 ) was ceded along with Upper California (including San Diego) to the United
States and the border of Texas was acknowledged at the Rio Grande. The U.S. assumed the previously disputed,
unpaid claims and paid an additional $15,000,000. (Ref. 151 ([206]), 198 ([287])) (See also page 1160 for New Mex.)
2.33.1.1.2.1.4 THE WEST
The original Oregon Territory included the present day states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho and the province of
British Columbia. The final border settlement with Great Britain was made in June 1846 under Polk’s administration.
Backwoodsmen from Iowa, Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky made up most of the early white settlers and they were
originally led there by the Rocky Mountain beaver hunters known as "Mountainy men". Indian troubles occurred from
time to time, including the Cayuse War of 1847. The Cayuse Indians146 , closely associated with the Nez Perce, but
separate, blamed some missionaries for an outbreak of small-pox and killed those in the mission. The white settlers
than declared war and subdued the Indians, who were placed on a reservation in 1855.
The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, commonly called the Mormon Church, was responsible for settling
Utah. Brigham Young, heir to Joseph Smith, who was murdered in Illinois in 1844, reached Utah with his followers
in 1847. Included were some 4,000 English converts. By 1848 over 5,000 people had arrived and the Utah Territory
was organized in 1850 with Young as territorial governor.
145 The Hidalgo Treaty described some of the U.S.-Mexico border vaguely, and in 1853 President Franklin Pierce had James Gadsden purchase an
extra 30,000 square miles along southern New Mexico and Arizona south of the Gila River, for $10,000,000. That area was considered the most
practical route for a southern railroad to the Pacific. This was the "Gadsden Purchase". (Ref. 38 ([59]))
146 The Cayuse bred a small horse and gave the name cayuse to all Indian ponies. (Ref. 38 ([59]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
184
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
The development of Wyoming was closely allied with the fur trade and the great westward migrations. When John
Colter, a trapper in the Wyoming Mountains, first returned to St. Louis with tales of the great canyons and steaming
geysers of Yellowstone, he was ridiculed. Soon, however, the "Mountainy men" entered the country and helped establish the western route to Oregon through South Pass. The trail has hundreds of graves of those who died in blizzards,
from starvation, disease and Indian attacks. In the first half of the century Colorado, part of the Spanish territory, was
occupied chiefly by Indians, with only the occasional white hunter. The Comanches, Cheyennes, Arapahos and the
Kiowas combined forces in 1840 to combat the invasion of their grounds and the settlement of Colorado by whites
was accompanied by massacres, lootings and subsequent reprisals.
In Arizona the Pima Indians, whose language was of the Uto-Aztecan linguistic family, were joined early in the
century by the Maricopa of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock, along the Gila River. That new alliance allowed them
to severely defeat their old enemy, the Yumas, by 1857. (Ref. 38 ([59]))
We have mentioned in another connection that the Russians visited San Francisco in 1806 and that they established
a short-lived Fort Ross some 100 miles north of the Golden Gate in 1812. In 1826 Yankees arrived overland in the
persons of Jedediah Smith and his fellow fur trappers, but colonization remained chiefly Mexican until the 1840s. In
1834 Governor Figueroa removed the San Francisco Solano mission from Franciscan monk control and put Mariano
Vallejo in charge. Some 250,000 acres of land thus soon fell to his personal ownership and eventually he had 50,000
cattle, 24,000 sheep and 8,000 horses of which 1,000 were broken to saddle. He later supported the United States
take-over, although he was put in prison for awhile and lost most of his land.
In 1839 the Swiss John Sutter arrived and established a "kingdom" of New Helvetia on a large area in the Sacramento
valley. In 1836 a group calling themselves the "Californios" briefly asserted the independence of California and by
1845 had driven out the last Mexican governor. Led by John C. Fremont, Americans set up a republic at Sonoma under
the Bear Flag. As news of the U.S.-Mexico war reached there soon afterwards, Commodore John D. Sloat captured
Monterey, the capital, and claimed California for the United States. As we have seen above, by the Treaty of Hidalgo,
this annexation was made permanent. Even in 1845 almost nothing was known in the United States about California,
except for R.H. Dana’s Two Years before the Mast and J.E. Fremont’s Report of the Exploring Expedition to Oregon
and North California. Barely 6,000 whites lived there and the Indians were weak. In January of the same year of the
Hidalgo Treaty, a workman in the Sacramento Valley discovered gold in Sutter’s millrace and soon the gold rush to the
state was on. San Francisco rose in a few months to a city of 20,000, where eggs sold for $10.00 per dozen. Two years
after the gold discovery, California became a non-slave owning state in a package deal, which also admitted Texas
and formed territories in New Mexico and Utah. The gold fever was augmented as W.S. Bodie found gold high in the
Sierras at "Bodie" in 1859 and struck it really rich in 1876. By 1880 the town of Bodie was roaring with life and death,
with 56 saloons, 12,000 people and 1 killing a day. When gold ran out in 1883, Bodie was almost abandoned. (Ref.
151 ([206]), 198 ([287]), 39 ([60]))
Before leaving this section on life in the United States west of the Mississippi before the War between the states, we
should give a little additional information about progress in New Mexico, which was the chief center of the MexicanSpanish civilization north of the Rio Grande. Early in this 19th century, some "North Americans" began to invade the
area, including Lt. Zebulon Pike, who subsequently wrote a book which stimulated many Missourians to trek to Sante
Fe for trade. Between 1824 and 1825 some 25 wagons left Missouri with about $35,000 worth of merchandise, which
was sold in Sante Fe for $190,000,000 in gold. Later hundreds of wagons made the journey and on the return trip
many brought mules, which later became identified with the state of Missouri. In 1841 Mirabeau Lamar, the second
fully accredited president of the nation of Texas, invited the New Mexicans to join Texas and then raised an army with
which to force the union, but the venture failed. (Ref. 198 ([287]))
2.33.1.1.2.1.4.1 ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES *** (Page 1202)
Because there were 4 candidates in the election of 1860, Lincoln won only 39% of the popular vote and carried only
2 counties in the south. (Ref. 8 ([14])) As soon as he was elected the south rapidly fell prey to its dreamers with their
visions of a great Southern Confederacy expanding around the whole Gulf and spreading from sea to sea, teeming with
culture and trade and based on slavery. South Carolina declared its independence on the day before Christmas, 1860
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
185
and quickly Alabama, Florida and Mississippi followed, with Louisiana and Texas joining by February 1, 1861. Those
states formed the Confederate States of America on February 8th, with the southern Congress electing Jefferson Davis
president and Alexander H. Stephens as vice-president. The Confederacy was based on the two contentions of states
rights and slavery, the former dooming their ability to wage war successfully and the latter preventing all possibilities
of-a foreign ally. All of this occurred before President-elect Lincoln had even taken off ice and nothing was done in
Washington until 6 weeks into Lincoln’s term. Then multiple attempts at compromise and conciliation were attempted,
but failed. Lincoln renewed his party’s pledge to respect slavery in those states which had it, but would not acquiesce
in secession.
The first gun of the Civil War was fired April 12, 1861 as the Confederate officers started to take Fort Sumter at
Charleston, North Carolina. That firing on the flag was enough to arouse patriotism in the north and then events moved
swiftly. To win, the north had to completely crush the south and most European experts thought this impossible.
Lincoln’s paramount object was to save the Union, not to destroy slavery, but in the fall of 1862 after General Lee’s
army had been exhausted and depleted at Antietam, he did announce his Emancipation Proclamation to officially free
the slaves in the rebel states. The loyal slave states (Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, West Virginia and Missouri) only
later freed their slaves by state action.
Mostly boys fought the Civil War, it being almost certain that the majority on both sides were under 21, many as young
as 15. Even the officers were young, some major generals being in their 20s. At least 540,000 Americans (population
in 1860 was over 31,000,000) lost their lives in or as a result of that war. The average soldier was sick enough 2 or 3
times each year to be sent to a hospital, which was of ten a more dangerous place than the battlefield. Antisepsis was
unknown, anesthetics not always available and abdominal wounds and major amputations meant probable death. The
south had the best medical corps as a result of the work of their capable surgeon-general, Dr. Samuel Preston Moore,
but neither side had an effective transportation system early and the south never developed one. In the last 2 years of
the war the use of anesthetics finally became routine in the northern armies only. (Ref. 125 ([173])) The commander
of the Confederate Navy had a son killed in the Union Navy and Mrs. Lincoln’s three brothers died fighting for the
south.
In this outline we shall not attempt to record the campaigns and battles of this war. In spite of a series of costly land
campaigns over two years, the Union won only after the South had been starved by a Union blockade and split by the
Mississippi. The best officers on both sides were West Point graduates, but Lincoln may have been the best strategist
of them all. He offered command of the Union forces at the beginning to General Robert E. Lee and Lee was against
slavery, but he was a fifth generation Virginian and felt that he had to stay with his state. Most of the fighting was
done in rough, forested country. Antietam, Gettysburg and Fredericksburg were the only important battles in open
country. General Lee persistently underestimated the effect of rifle fire over open ground and that is why his attacks
failed at Antietam and Gettysburg. The Union’s .58 caliber rifle, 4’ 8" long, fired by a percussion cap, could be fired
at 3 rounds per minute and could kill at over 1/2 mile. Mines and submarines were used for defense in shoal waters.
A new innovation was air observation from balloons. 50uthern hopes of a quick victory were based on the expectation
that the North would not f ight and that England, needing cotton, would go to war to help the South. Both assumptions
were in error, although warships for the Confederacy were built in both British and French ports.
During this war, Lincoln wielded a greater power than any president up to the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt and in
actuality he was a dictator, from the standpoint of constitutional law. Under one of his proclamations, over 13,000
persons were arrested and confined by military authority for offenses ranging from theft of government property to
treason. Lincoln had many enemies in the north, ranging from the religious Osgoodites, who considered him the
Beast of the Book of Revelations, to the defeatists "Copperheads", who only wanted to negotiate and finally the
"barnburning" Knights of the Golden Circle in the middle west. Lincoln also enraged the Congress by arbitrary acts
that went of ten beyond the Constitution or the authority which Congress felt that he had. Until his death he was never
wildly popular.
Every school child knows of General Lee’s surrender to General Ulysses Grant at Appomattox on April 12, 1865 and of
Lincoln’s assassination at Ford’s theater on the night of April 1 4th at the hand of an actor, John Wilkes Booth, declared
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
186
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
to be insane. Some southern armies and vessels surrendered at various times subsequently, the last on November 6th,
when the C.S.S. Shenandoah surrendered to British authorities. (Ref. 151 ([206]), 39 ([60]))
Map taken from Ref. 97 ([13])
2.33.1.1.2.1.4.2 THE IMMEDIATE EFFECTS OF THE CIVIL WAR
2.33.1.1.2.1.4.2.1 In the North
Production was stimulated in the north and in Philadelphia alone some 180 factories were built within 3 years. Immigration from Europe increased with 800,000 people coming within 5 years. Labor saving devices invented at that time,
or in general use, included the Howe sewing machine, the Gordon McKay shoe machine and the mechanical reaper.
Pennsylvania oil production went up to 128,000,000 gallons in 3 years. Ref ining methods allowed kerosene glass
lamps to light American and English farmhouses. The Homestead Act in 1862 stimulated westward migration and
opened up new prairie farmlands. Great fortunes were started - Armour (meatpacking), Havemeyer (sugar), Remington (guns), Carnegie (iron and steel), Borden (milk) and Marshall Field (merchandise). 40,000,000 bushels of wheat
and flour were exported in 1861. New states were added during and after the civil conflict. (See map on previous
page). Some 15 new colleges were established, including Vassar, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, La Salle,
Cornell and Swarthmore. At the end of the war, after the Confederate General Early had raided up to within sight of
the capitol, there was inflation and paper dollars fell 2/3 in value-and the cost of living soared.
2.33.1.1.2.1.4.2.2 In the South
The war effort absorbed all. Transportation was wanting so that food and supply distribution was very bad, both during
and af ter the war. Some areas starved, while others still had plenty. Texas was geographically removed from it all and
uninvaded (except by Comanches) until 1865. Luxuries were imported from Mexico.
2.33.1.1.2.1.4.3 THE RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD. 1865 - 1877
There was an extremely rapid demobilization of Union forces and, amazingly, generalized acceptance of the war ’s
result by the south. Of several thousand southerners who refused to return to allegiance to the nation, a large part
went to Texas, with a few to Europe, Brazil and Mexico. Reconstruction is still a controversial subject in American
history, of ten distorted by emotion. Still it was a deplorable and tragic period. For up to three years no compulsion
was put on the southern states to enfranchise the Negro, but during that time nothing was done to prepare him for
citizenship either and much was done to humiliate him and keep him "down". In spite of the stereotype picture of
the northern Republicans beating and robbing the south, in actuality millions of dollars of northern money poured
into the south for food, education and various charities. Congress, too performed wonders in relief, but not in racial
adjustments. President ANDREW JOHNSON appointed provisional civil governors in every former Confederate state
where Lincoln had not already done so. The South replaced slavery with the "Black Codes", which everywhere kept
the Negro a second class citizen.
In March, 1867, by Act of Congress, military rule replaced the civil administrations of the rebel states. The Union
military enrolled a new electorate and proceeded to set up reconstructed state governments. This was accomplished
by 1870. Those radical governments persisted in some states for up to 8 years - Louisiana, Florida and Texas - and
while they were infamous for some types of corruption, they also accomplished some good legislation that resulted
in rebuilding schools, roads, railroads, etc. But overall, those governments were bad and in the end neither the freed
Negroes nor the Republican party profited.
More disgraceful activities followed - the impeachment of President Johnson147 and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan.
The election of the war hero, GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT to the presidency started a dynasty of Republicans,
which lasted almost to the end of the century. Unfortunately, below the presidency the corruption of the party was
147 Fortunately
the Senate, organized as a court under the Chief Justice, failed to convict Johnson and he remained in office
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
187
abominable. The Civil War, like every other war, had broken down morals and everyone was out to "make a fast buck".
In addition stock speculation, over-rapid expansion of the agricultural west and a world-wide drop in prices brought on
the panic of 1873 and a depression which lasted 3 years. Corruption and boss rule continued throughout the century.
(Ref. 39 ([60]))
2.33.1.1.2.1.4.4 EXPANSION, DEVELOPMENT, AND SOCIAL CHANGES IN THE LAST 30 YEARS OF
THE 19TH CENTURY
An interesting feature of the last half of the century was the development of the Mormon culture in Utah. When
Brigham Young had arrived in that area in 1841 it was the northern-most province of Mexico. The Mormons found
a desert and made it over into one of the most fertile areas of the west and for many years they kept to themselves
and practiced their religion, which included polygamy. When PRESIDENT GROVER CLEVELAND signed the act
which made Utah the 45th state in the 1890s, however, polygamy had to stop. Some of the Mormons migrated to
northern Mexico, rather than live under the Union’s laws. (Ref. 39 ([60]))
During the period from 1850 to 1870 the high plains states and the Rocky Mountain areas enjoyed a very moist period,
but that was followed by decades of drought, with a great reduction of grass. That had a serious effect on the cattle
herds, with a drastic reduction in numbers and it would have been the same for the buffalo herds, reducing them by 50
to 70%, even if they hadn’t been over hunted. The Sioux Indians of the Dakotas, who were originally farmers, only
became buffalo hunters shortly before their extermination late in this century. The buffalo herds were cut in two by
the railroad as it went west in the late 1860s. Up to the time of the Civil War, the eastern (Union Pacific) railroad went
only to Council Bluffs, Iowa and there was a Central Pacific RR running north and southwest of the Sierras. In 1866
Congress allowed the two commercial companies to build, one from each direction, and meet wherever they chanced.
For a single mile of track they needed 40 cars to carry 400 tons of rail and timber (for- ties, bridges, etc.), fuel and
food. The Central Pacific had to get its materials, except for timber, by sea - some 12,000 miles around Cape Horn.
Eastern work gangs were chiefly new immigrants, mainly Irish, using plenty of whiskey, while the western crews were
primarily Chinese, needing tea.
The United States government gave the companies a subsidy of $16,000 per mile of track on the prairie and $48,000
per mile in the mountains. The two tracks met at Promontory Point, Utah on May 10, 1869. In the first 2 decades of
operation, freight rates were lowered 500% and travel time reduced by 900%. By 1890 the rail network was larger
than in all Europe, including the British Isles and Russia. (Ref. 175, 62 ([91]), 39 ([60]), 8 ([14]))
In 1867 at the end of a spur railroad line, Joseph McCoy bought the town of Abilene, Kansas for $5 an acre and then
spent $5,000 for various kinds of promotions to get cattle there from Texas for shipment east. The result was the
Chisholm Trail, beginning in south Texas near the Gulf and going through Oklahoma to Abilene. At the end of the
Civil War, herds of 2,000 to 3,000 head of long-horned cattle moved regularly up this trail, from the matrix of some
3,000,000 of those cattle in Texas. Their ancestors had been brought over in the second voyage of Columbus. A good
drive to Kansas was completed in three months. In the first 4 years McCoy shipped over 2,000,000 cattle out of his
stock yards, greatly exceeding even his own boasts and it is probable that this was the origin of the expression "the real
McCoy". In the 1860s and 1870s there were multiple cowtowns with cowboys, claim jumpers, fugitives, prostitutes
and the natural enemies - cattlemen and sheep men. The death rate in those cow towns was proportionately 10 or
20 times as high as New York City today. Some of the mining towns were even worse. But the Great Plains, finally
cleared of Indians and buffalo, were open for cattle. Between 1860 and 1880 even Kansas increased its cattle herds
16 fold and Nebraska by 30 times. In 1886 Wyoming had 9,000,000 cattle, although many owners went broke in the
financial panic of 1885-87) (Ref. 39 ([60]), 211 ([284]))
In 1840 it took 233 man-hours of work to grow 100 bushels of wheat, but in 1920 it took only 80 man-hours. Part of
that was due to the great increase in the number of draft horses, rising from 6,200,000 in 1850 to over 15,500,000 by
1900. American grain sent to Europe was cheaper than that grown locally and European agriculture was disrupted.
One result of that was Norwegian emigration to America. Social changes were in part related to various immigration
patterns. The proportion of British Isle immigrants fell from 45% in 1861-1870 to 18% in 1891-1900 while that of
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
188
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
- Russians and southern Europeans rose from 0.1% to 50% in the same period. Most of the newcomers went to the
northeast so that in 1900 86% of the foreign-born were in states north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi.
The first significant labor organization was the "Knights of Labor", founded in 1869 and winning the first railroad
strike in 1884. Marxists and anarchists started other unions, with the latter fanning the infamous Haymarket Square
riot in 1886, as part of a Chicago strike. In 1886 Samuel Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor, which
gradually succeeded the Knights as the spearhead of the American Labor movement. (Ref. 211 ([284]), 151 ([206]))
We have previously mentioned the Homestead Law of 1862 by which anyone could obtain 160 acres of western land
by agreeing to work it and produce a crop within 5 years. This was made possible by three agricultural advancements,
the windmill, a special plow148 for caked prairie soil invented by John Deere and barbed wire, which would keep
cattle out. Of course the latter, in itself, provoked seemingly endless atrocities and battles between the farmers and the
scandalized cattlemen. But in the final analysis, transportation was the key to the development of the west. By the end
of the century more than 175,000 miles of railroad track had been laid, the Pullman sleeping car had been invented,
along with the Westinghouse brake and refrigerator car. The Union Pacific, Central Pacific, Northern Pacific, Southern
Pacific and the Santa Fe railroads were all aided by government grants and were well established in this period. The
terminals of these lines - Omaha. Kansas City, Oakland, Portland, Seattle and Tacoma - all became metropolitan cities
within 30 years, while the populations of all the western states increased by 5 to 10 fold. Of course Chicago, a terminal
not only for railroads but also for river and lake traffic from the Great Lakes region, became one of the busiest trade
centers of the world.
Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876 and Thomas A. Edison the incandescent light bulb in 1879.
By 1885 the Bell Telephone Company had over 134,000 subscribers in the United States. Shipping tonnage on the
Great Lakes increased from 100,000 in 1865 to 25,000,000 in 1901, with wheat and iron forming the chief cargoes.
Pittsburgh became the center of the northern Appalachian coal fields and Birmingham, Alabama the hub of the southern
Appalachian fields. Steel production reached 10,000,000 tons by 1900, outstripping the British output, yet farm
products still greatly exceeded those of industry.
But over-production of goods and raw materials, over-capitalization of railroads and feverish speculation in securities
brought financial panics in 1873 and 1893. After the latter, particularly, there were labor strikes with terrible violence.
Trusts were formed, including the railroads and there were some very questionable business practices. The Interstate
Commerce Act of 1887 was the federal government’s first attempt to regulate the railroads and break up the trusts.
The first ready-made plates for use in photography were developed in the 1880s and Henry Ford made his first twincylinder, water-cooled, 25 mile an hour car in 1896, although mass production did not materialize until after the turn
of the century. (Ref. 213 ([288]))
In spite of the financial panic of 1873, factories tripled their output between 1877 and 1892 so that the United States
became the leading industrial power of the world. The panic of 1893 occurred when the Democratic Party was in
power, and it subsequently became stigmatized as the party of depression. Born as the son of a poor weaver in Scotland, Andrew Carnegie went from oil to building to buying up iron and steel mills and then to railroads and steamship
lines. His monopoly of steel helped him to weather the 1892-3 depression and 9 years later he sold his steel interests
out to the United States Steel Corporation for $250,000,000, after which he started his career of fabulous philanthropy.
(Ref. 8 ([14]), 151 ([206]))
A major step in medicine occurred with the establishment in 1893 of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine,
with a remarkable faculty, which included the pathologist William H. Welch who was among the first to introduce
microscopy and bacteriology into the country, the great clinician William Osler and surgeon William S. Halsted.
Within a few years Hopkins’ former students and professors carried the Hopkins’ system to all parts of the United
States. (Ref. 125 ([173]))
On the political scene, RUTHERFORD B. HAYES was announced president in a disputed election by action of the
National Electoral Commission by a strict party vote. Hayes refused to run again in 1880 and a "dark horse" GEN148 This
plow had a revolving blade, which turned the very hard soil
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
189
ERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD ran away with the nomination and finally the election. On his death by assassination
4 months later, his vice-president, CHESTER ARTHUR assumed office. Reform in the civil service commission regulation was made by law in 1883. Overall, some believe Arthur’s was the best Republican administration between
Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, but in the 1884 election, the Democrat GROVER CLEVELAND won the office. But
Cleveland made many enemies, being rude to the press, offending Union veterans, vetoing hundreds of pension bills
and trying to stop the "free coinage" of silver under the Bland-Allison Act. Cleveland lost the next election (1888) to
the Republican BENJAMIN HARRISON, who made a dignified but ineffective president and his Congress wanted no
legislation other than raids on the treasury and hold-ups of the consumer. As a result, Cleveland was returned for a
second term in the elections of 1892. There followed the worst industrial depression since the 1870s. It was a period
of soup kitchens, ragged armies of unemployed and desperate strikes. The party in power is always blamed for all hard
times, so in 1894 the Republicans won again, with WILLIAM McKINLEY defeating the "boy orator of the Platte",
William Jennings Bryan.
2.33.1.1.2.1.4.5 THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR
In 1897 Cuba was in revolt against Spain’s inept rule and American journalists, such as William Randolph Hearst and
Joseph Pulitzer, in a race for circulation, played up some atrocities and Cuban concentration camps in the American
press. Soon there was a cry to "do something" about Cuba. Just as a new Spanish premiere did promise Cuba a
measure of home rule and reform, however, the U.S.S. Maine battleship was mysteriously blown up in Havana harbor,
with heavy loss of life. The clamor for war with Spain then became more than the weak President McKinley could
stand and in place of accepting a peacef ul solution already offered by Spain, which even included ceding Cuba to the
U.S., McKinley allowed Congress to declare war in April of 1898. The American fleets immediately went to work,
with one Atlantic squadron blockading Havana and another protecting the U.S. coast. Commodore Dewey took the
Pacific fleet into Manila Bay in the Philippines and without losing a single man reduced the Spanish fleet there to
junk. The obsolete Spanish vessels there were no match for the newer American ships. Even so, the United States
Naval bombardments in both Manila and the later Santiago Bay of Cuba, proved embarrassingly inaccurate, leading
to a world-wide effort to improve long-range gunnery. (Ref. 279 ([191])) After 10 weeks of fighting the U.S. had
wrested an American empire from Spain. The ground war to "save Cuba" was a popular one, but sad because of lack
of preparedness of the continental forces. For every one of the 289 men killed in battle, 13 men died of disease. If the
Spanish forces had been in any way organized and reasonably led, the ragged U.S. forces could never have invaded the
island, but they did. Then when the Spanish navy sailed out of Santiago Bay to be destroyed by the guns of Admiral
Sampson’s Atlantic squadron in July of 1898 the war was over. At the formal Treaty of Paris in the fall of that year,
both Cuba and Porto Rico, as well as the Philippines, became U.S. possessions. For the latter, this country did give
Spain $2,000,000.
2.33.1.1.2.1.4.6 THE INDIAN PROBLEM IN THE LAST HALF OF THE CENTURY
By way of recapitulation we should mention that many Indian problems began after the United States acquired Florida
through the treaty ratified in 1821. Then Monroe’s bowing to the demands of land craving "westerners" and Jackson’s
follow-up policies resulted in the attempt to remove all Indians to regions west of the Mississippi. This began in the old
"Northwest" and the lower South. We have seen that the Seminoles of Florida refused to move and under the leadership
of Osceola, retreated to the fastness of the everglades, where they remain in some 200,000 acres of swampland today.
The only "western" statesman to denounce these shabby activities was Henry Clay. From 1853 to 1856 there were 52
treaties signed, mostly with Indian nations west of the Mississippi, resulting in the addition of 174,000,000 acres to
the national domain. There were 200,000 Indians between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains at the beginning
of the century.
The Indian story of the second half of the century, however, is that of the Great Plains tribes and their attempts to
prevent white settlements. The Sioux, Blackfoot, Crow, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Nez Perce149 , Comanche, Apache, Ute
and Kiowa were all well armed and had swift horses. The universal Indian sign language only became manifest at
that time on the Great Plains, when tribes speaking different languages had to communicate and collaborate, although
149 The
French-Canadians named these Indians Nez Perce because they pierced their noses for wearing shell ornaments. (Ref. 294 ([39]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
190
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
it had actually originated at an earlier date among the Westos, Shawnees and other Southern Indians. (Ref. 267
([321])) The wanton destruction of the buffalo, the Colt six-shooter and the white man’s diseases were all fatal to the
plains Indians. United, these Indians might have been invincible, but they were themselves divided and were defeated
piecemeal, although at times the Indians seemed to be winning. When 60,000 Texans went to the Confederate army,
it left scarcely 27,000 men behind to defend the entire state and the Comanches and Kiowas, among others, turned
central Texas into a disaster area. This occurred even after prospectors in the 1849 gold rush had brought cholera to
those tribes as they poured through their territories. Some of the tribes lost 50% of their people. The Comanches, who
had gone south from Wyoming about 1700, were excellent horsemen, led by Quanah Parker in the late 1860s. Parker
was never actually defeated in battle, but in 1875 he gave up his wars and accepted reservation life, leading the last
of his Kwahadie clan and their 1,500 horses to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He later became a business man, leasing land
to Burk Burnett, Dan Waggoner and others in north Texas. But he also proselytized the peyote cult, which became
known as the focus of the native American church. (Ref. 294 ([39]))
The various tribes occupied and roamed over large territories at times and it will be easier to discuss them by tribes,
rather than narrowly by regions. The Shoshones of Wyoming territory were linguistically and culturally related to the
Utes and Paiutes and were actually great warriors against their Indian enemies (Sioux, Crows, Blackfoot, Cheyenne
and Arapahos), but they made friends with the whites of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and later helped the Mormons
to make safe passage. Fort Washakie was named after the great Shoshone chief. The Blackfoot occupied part of
Wyoming and Montana territory, while the Nes Percel were primarily in Idaho. The Utes, some of whom were also
friendly to whites, were primarily in Colorado, where there were no U.S. forts.
The Cheyenne and Sioux were more widely distributed, with the later especially spread from the Dakota territory
through Montana, Wyoming and Nebraska. The U.S. had many forts in those areas, including Forts Buford, Abraham
Lincoln, Yates, Meade and Randall in the Dakota Territory, Fort Kearney in Nebraska and Fort Ellis in Montana. Chief
Sitting Bull was a Hunkpapa Sioux band warrior and Crazy Horse was an Oglala Sioux. In the 1 ,860s Washington gave
the Hunkpapas a large reservation (along with some Cheyenne and Arapaho clans) encompassing the entire western
1/2 of South Dakota and the Powder River country to west of the Big Horn Mountains to be unceded Indian Territory,
off limits to all white people. This was the Treaty of Laramie. But the Northern Pacific Railroad went through then and
Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer was sent with reconnaissance guards. He reported that there was gold in the Black
Hills, sacred to the Sioux. By 1875 there were over 1,000 prospectors there and Washington took away the unceded
land. But Chief Sitting Bull ignored orders to go to a reservation. Consequently in 1876 three columns of army were
sent out to "get" Sitting Bull. He did-a "scarlet blanket" ceremony to his god, which involved SO cuts of skin off each
arm and then 24 hours of dancing. The now General Custer led one of the three forces of the U.S. and came across
the trail of the Indians as they were moving. Recklessly and against orders, he attacked them. In the battle Custer
was killed and the core of the 7th Cavalry was destroyed. Later the Sioux were defeated by Colonel Nelson Miles and
Sitting Bull was taken prisoner. Still later, of course, he was famous with Bill Cody’s Wild West Show, only to be
killed in 1896 by Indian policemen, who had come to arrest him as a high priest of a ghost dance movement. After the
capture of Sitting Bull, the Sioux Chief Big Foot, with 300 followers, escaped to the Badlands of South Dakota. They,
too, were captured and taken to Wounded Knee Creek. When the soldiers were attempting to disarm the Indians gun
fire broke out, the Indians were massacred and the bodies left on the ground to freeze. This is yet today a source of
much Indian grievance and discontent. (Ref. 294 ([39]))
In the meantime, by 1870 a new tanning process developed in 1870, made buffalo hides commercially workable and
therefore buffalo hunting a year around business. At the same time there appeared the high powered Sharps’ rifle that
could kill a full grown buffalo at 500 yards. A top marksman might kill 200 a day in the Texas panhandle. This marked
the end of the buffalo and of the remaining Indians. Buffalo slaughter at more than a million a year meant that by 1886
only about 1,000 remained on the plains. (Ref. 294)
Next we must turn our attention to the great southwest, where in the middle of the century some 7,000 Apaches lived
in Arizona, New and Old Mexico. There were several bands - the White Mountain group, the Aravaipa Apache, the
Mimbres and the Chiricahuas being the most numerous. The latter group was perhaps the most formidable and was
led by Chief Cochise. In Mexico in 1837 and after, the states of Chihuahua and Sonora paid bounty of 100 pesos for
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
191
a male Apache scalp, 50 for a woman’s and 25 for a child. The Apache bows were lethal at 100 yards and they used
slings which could hurl stones 150 yards, as well as war clubs and lances. Trained as long distance runners, they could
cover 70 miles a day on foot in tough terrain. Chief Geronimo was made most vicious by a massacre of many of his
people by the Mexican General Carrasco at Janos, Mexico. By the 1870s there were 10,000 white miners, ranchers
and townsmen in Arizona and by 1880 the number had risen to 37,000, about 10 times the Indian population. In the
1880s 5,000 Apaches were forced on to the San Carlos reservation in southern Arizona where they were supposed to
farm, but they didn’t know how. Geronimo repeatedly escaped to Mexico and returned to raid. In 1886 General Nelson
Miles took 5,000 troops to hunt him down and Geronimo finally gave himself up, after his family had been sent to
Florida. In 1894 he and the remaining Chiricahuas were taken to Ft. Sill, where most of them soon died of disease.
(Ref. 294 ([39]))
The Zunis of the Southwest were very intractable and had repelled the Spaniards in earlier years, time and time
again. Palmer (Ref. 165 ([224])) says that they derived originally from two parental stocks, one from the north and
one from the southwest, but their language is distinct and intelligible to no other Indian tribe. They have succeeded
in preserving their myths and traditions in a "series of sacred epics, a sort of inchoate Bible"150 . These facts are
particularly interesting in view of Barry Fell’s hypothesis discussed on page 210, concerning the possible relationship
of the Zuni and their language with Libyan sailors. Information about some of the southwestern Indians has been
slow in coming to light. In Rose Palmer’s book, The North American Indians, (Ref. 165 ([224])) written under the
Smithsonian auspices as late as 1949, she does not even mention the Hohokam and Anasazi. She does mention "Basket
Makers", stating that some cave-like dwellings in deep recesses of cliffs had been abandoned long before the Spaniards
came. *** (Page 1202)
The Ute, Comanche, Hopi and Pima Shoshonean languages are related to the Nahautl group of languages of Mexico,
which includes Aztec. Some of these Shoshonean Athapascan groups had early been isolated by mountains and
deserts. The Mohave, who tattooed their bodies and wore practically no clothes, along with the Yuma, formed a
connecting link with the southwest tribes. They had rafts and planked canoes sealed with asphalt.
In the far west, the Yuroks and Hupa (also Hoopa) of northern California, like the northwest coastal Indians, were
highly civilized, using bows and arrows, body armor of thick elk hide and dugout canoes with 6 to 8- paddles that
could even be used in the ocean. They ate salmon, mussels, seaweed (for salt), whale meat and acorns. The latter were
dried, pounded into meal, treated with hot water to remove the tannic acid and then cooked in closely woven baskets,
with stirring, until a tasteless gruel resulted. They grew and smoked tobacco. Although those two California tribes
spoke- entirely different languages, they were friendly and cooperative with each other. The Hupa, living along the
Trinity River, did not even know of white men until the gold rush days of 1850. (Ref. 165 ([224]))
MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
The Mexican Revolution actually began in 1810 when Miguel Hidalgo, a priest, called on his Indian followers to rise
against their local rulers. Spanish rule had already deteriorated as Napoleon had subdued Spain. But Mexico City was
even then a rich capital, with caravans of mules with noisy bells, carrying merchandise and maize flour daily to the city.
(Ref. 260 ([29])) Various governors appeared and disappeared in Mexico in that time of struggle between classes and
among ambitious, selfish, military men. The Mexicans copied the United States constitution in 1824 almost exactly,
but they could not make it function properly because of constant collisions of state and national sovereignties, with
the result that by the 1830s they had alternated between anarchy and military despotism. (Ref. 217 ([68])) War with
Texas in 1835 and with the United States in 1845-48 resulted in the loss of much land. (See pages 1157 and 1158).
Mexico had 30 presidents in its first 50 years. (Ref. 8 ([14])) Benito Juarez, a Zapotec Indian, finally came into power
and tried to improve his country’s economic situation and lessen the political power of the Church, but that era was
interrupted by Napoleon III’s placing the Austrian Maximilian as Emperor of Mexico, supported by French troops, in
opposition to Juarez. By 1867, however, Juarez had run the French out and subordinated church and state to a secular
administration. As the French deserted, Maximilian was captured and shot. The last third of the century saw Porfirio
Diaz as dictator of Mexico, when the liberals had been unable to give Mexico prosperity. Diaz allowed spectacular
150 Quotation
from Frank H. Cushing, who lived with the Zuni from 1879 to 1883, as given by Palmer (Ref. 165 ([224])), page 128
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
192
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
economic progress, but with foreign capital and leaving the populace poorer than ever. (Ref. 8 ([14]))
Elsewhere in Central America there was much confusion. For awhile there was a Confederation of Central America
including Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, San Salvador and Quezaltango, although the first four soon
declared themselves independent of the federal government. In the first half of the century the main road to Guatemala
City was almost impassable even with mules. The people, even the whites, went about essentially naked, living on
tortillas, corn, dark beans and cigars. Polygamy was common, even among nominal Catholics. There were many
gigantic Catholic churches desolate and deteriorating in the jungle, evidence of an expiring people. When a cholera
epidemic struck in 1838 the priests told the Indians that foreigners in San Salvador had caused it, leading to further
political confusion. (Ref. 203 ([277])) Stephens (Ref. 204 ([278])) described the bull-fights in Yucatan about 1840 as
"brutal".
Nicaragua was the seat of multiple incidents, involving British, U.S. and local revolutionaries and Latin America has
been suspicious of U.S. activities ever since. President Polk obtained the right of transit across Panama by treaty with
Colombia in 1840 and the Panama Railway was completed in 1855, with American capital. The old Mayan ruins in
both Yucatan and what is now Honduras were investigated and publicized by John Stephens from the United States.
Belize had 6,000 people, 4,000 of which were black, mahogany cutters, but there was complete integration of the races
in that British settlement. The old Indian 40 feet long canoes with cabins still plied the rivers, but were now manned by
Negroes. The previously fierce, cannibalistic Caribs of the coast were now civilized and most were Catholics, although
they had not mixed with the Spanish conquerors. (Ref. 203 ([277])) There were three main political parties in Central
America, one lead by Morazan, former president of the Republic of San Salvador, a second by the mulatto Ferrara in
Honduras and finally Carrera, an Indian of Guatemala. The latter’s country, although dominated by dictators through
most of the century did manage to supply the Spanish with sugar, cocoa and indigo.
Early in the century European introduced disease took a high toll throughout Mexico and Central America in general.
The native population of Mexico had been seriously depleted and in some areas, such as Veracruz in particular, there
was a human vacuum which was resettled by French and Italian farmers. A big step in the control of tropical disease
was made in 1881 by the Cuban physician, Carlos Finlay, as he defined the Aedes aegypti mosquito as the insect vector
in yellow fever. More complete details were then developed by a United States commission working in Cuba under
Walter Reed, at about the turn of the century. (Ref. 125 ([173]))
In the Caribbean, Cuba remained under the control of Spain, even as most of the remainder of the Spanish Empire
broke away. - This is not to say that there were not uprisings. A Ten Years War was initiated by Carlos Manuel de
Despedes, but it was a revolt which was finally crushed. Cuba had 55 steam engines by 1860. It was the largest
exporter of sugar and the richest colony in the world. (Ref. 213 ([288])) But still the people were not happy and there
was much bitterness which finally resulted in- 1895 with the brilliant poet Mose Marti becoming the chief spokesman
for a new and stronger revolt. We have seen in a special segment above how the United States became involved in this
uprising which terminated in the Spanish American War. Jamaica continued to have intermittent revolts against the
white colonials. When slavery was abolished in 1833 the sugar industry declined. Overpopulation and the economic
and social situations generated tension and unrest, leading to more severe riots. About 95% of the population was
Negro or part-Negro and many left the island to seek employment elsewhere in the Caribbean or the United States.
The story of Haiti is somewhat involved. At the end of the last century Spain had ceded its part of the island, Santo
Domingo, to France, but in 1801 the remarkable Negro leader, Toussaint L ’Ouverture conquered it. Although an
expedition sent by Napoleon in
1802 failed to retake the island, Touissant was captured by trickery and died in a French prison. But Haiti remained
independent and the remaining whites were expelled. Santo Domingo was brought under Haitian control by J.P. Boyer
in the 1840s, but actually anarchy persisted, with mulattos fighting against Negroes. The eastern, originally Spanish
part of the island never was fully assimilated and eventually out of the turmoil there emerged the Dominican Republic.
(Ref. 38 ([59]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
193
2.33.2 SOUTH AMERICA
From 1815 to 1822 there was an amazing eruption of new nations in South America. In Argentina, after first having to
fight off French, Portuguese and Dutch, a revolutionary movement of 1810 gave liberals an opportunity to reform the
country socially and economically, but they failed. Jose de San Martin kept the revolutionary flame alive in a remote
province and in 1817 led a famous march across the Andes with 3,500 men, to set up a new government in Chile. They
then went on by sea to attack Lima, Peru. Back home in Argentina, in mid-century a bloody dictator, Juan Manuel de
Rosas, took control, giving enormous ranches to his army veterans. Because of his great horsemanship, he him self
was a respected gaucho151 Rosas was overthrown by Jose de Urequiza of the army in the Battle of Caseros in 1852 and
the winner became chief executive, with a federal constitution. Immigration accounted for about 1/2 the population
growth in this century. 30 % of the inhabitants lived in Buenos Aires and that city would not join the Argentine
federation and there were intermittent civil wars between that city and province with the rest of Argentina through
1880, when the problems were finally solved under the presidency of Julio Roca. In the meantime, alliances had
been concluded with Uruguay and Brazil and there had been a w ar with Paraguay between 1865 and 1870. During
the administrations of Domingo Sarmiento (1868-74) and Nicolas Avellaneda (1874-80) education, commerce and
immigration were encouraged and the census of 1869 showed over 1,700,000 people. English sheep were introduced
to the country in 1840 and short-horn bulls in 1848. (Ref. 119 ([166]), 175 ([241]), 122 ([170]))
Chile organized as a republic under the son of an Irish officer, Bernardo O’Higgins, in 1818. The principal result of
the Chilean revolution was the transfer of economic and social control fro m a Spanish-led society to one dominated
by conservative Creoles, as the people would not give up religious processions, cockfighting and gambling and the
aristocracy kept their privileged positions and large estates. As with the other South A m erican nations, civil war
occurred in 1829 and 1830 and wars with neighbors developed throughout the century. The greatest of those was the
War of the Pacific with Chile fighting against Peru and Bolivia from 1879 to 1884. Chilean troops were everywhere
successful and Chile gained possession of the Bolivian littoral and southern Peruvian coast, with rich nitrate territories
of great economic importance. This region ran all along the Pacific coast and essentially blocked Bolivia fro m the sea.
(Ref. 8 ([14])) The last civil war occurred in 1891 and as the century ended war with Argentina was narrowly averted.
To go back in time to the early century, having established their own independence from Spain, Argentina and Chile
went to the aid of Peru in 1821, with San Martin leading the army and Admiral Cochrane cooperating with the Chilean
navy. In 1822 San Martin and Simon Bolivar met in Guayaquil at a time when only one Spanish army was left in the
field. That army surrendered at Ayacucho in 1824. Simon Bolivar had dreamed of one great state of Colombia, but
it was not to be and Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela went their separate ways. Bolivia became independent under
Bolivar in 1825 as a country some 21/2 times its present size. It was the rich nitrate and copper deposits along the
coast that tempted Chile to seize that portion in the War of the Pacific (see paragraph above). In the 20th century other
neighbors were to further chew up the borders of hapless Bolivia. Things were not a whole lot better in Colombia. In
the seventy years just prior to 1903 that country had 17 civil wars, with conservatives, liberals, Catholics and separatists
all involved from time to time. (Ref. 175 ([241])) Originally a part of Colombia, Panama was given a federal status by
Colombian constitutional amendment in 1855, although Panama did not declare its complete independence until after
the turn of the century. Large oil reserves were found in Venezuela in 1870 and in the 20th century this has greatly
increased that nation’s importance in the world. (Ref. 213 ([288]))
Portugal acted differently from Spain and met the demands of local autonomy. (Ref. 8 ([14])) When Prince Regent
Dom Joao, fleeing from Napoleon, landed in Rio in 1808 that city became capital of an empire including, besides
Brazil itself, various Atlantic Islands, Angola and Mozambique in Africa and scattered areas in China, India and
Oceania. Brazilian ports were opened; manufacture of iron and textiles undertaken; a bank, naval college, medical
faculty, library and printing press were established. European artists and scientists arrived. Even so, as late as 1820
Brazil, in spite of gold and diamond mines and the Portuguese empire, was a poor, oppressed country, thinly populated
and with little or no intellectual potential. (Ref. 292 ([28])) Dom Joao returned to Portugal in 1821 with most of the
cash from the Bank of Brazil, leaving Crown Prince Pedro to govern. On October 12, 1822 the Senate proclaimed
him as constitutional Emperor of Brazil as Pedro I. Opposition to his autocratic ways and his obvious primary interest
151 The
gauchos were a mixture of Spanish Creoles and Indians
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
194
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
in the mother country finally forced his abdication in favor of his 5 year old son, Pedro II. Between 1840 and 1889
provincial revolts were gradually brought to a close and a period of order and progress was initiated. Commerce and
industry expanded, 6,000 miles of railways were constructed by 1889, gold mines were further developed and sugar
and rubber production were promoted. In 1872 the population was over 10,000,000, including 1,500,000 slaves. These
were emancipated in 1888. Things changed in November of 1889 when the army, headed by General Manoel Deodoro
da Fonseca, revolted and deposed the emperor and proclaimed a republic. Fonseca was elected president in 1891.
Map taken from Reference 97
After Peru was liberated from Spain by Bolivar, there was still no real political stability and civil strife continued
until 1845 when Rarnon Castilla emerged as one of the strong men supported by the military. Even another small war
with Spain occurred between 1863 and 1871 over some small off-shore islands. Before the war’s end Jose Balta had
become president and had begun some material expansion of Peru. Unfortunately Peru joined the wrong side in the
War of the Pacific, mentioned above, and at the end lost the province of Tarapaca and after long haggling, the coastal
portions of two more provinces.
In 1816 Jose Rodriquez de Francia made himself perpetual dictator of Paraguay as well as head of the Paraguayan
Church and sealed that country off from the rest of the world until his death in 1840. He was succeeded by another
dictator, Carlos Antonio Lopez, who held absolute power until 1862. His son, Francisco Solano Lopez succeeded
him and attempted to increase the power of the country by vigorous means. The population had increased to over
1,000,000 and the first railway was constructed about that time. Lopez’s ambitions for additional territory, however,
brought about war with Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay (The War of the Triple Alliance) between 1865 and 1870 and
the Paraguayan nation was virtually annihilated, with only about 28,000 men and some 200,000 women surviving. A
long period of instability followed, with the economy slow in recovering.
In general we may say that the penchant for alternating dictatorships with various odd types of democracy has continued throughout Latin America even through the 20th century.
NOTE : The Four Great Indian Nations of the southeast were Jackson’s problems. The Chickasaw, Creek
and Choctaw were all advanced civilized peoples, but the Cherokees were astounding. Spread over northwest Georgia into Alabama and part of Tennessee, the Cherokees had a printed language, which had been
developed by George Gist, also known as Sequoyah, a Cherokee half-breed. Bibles, other books and even
a weekly newspaper, "The Cherokee Phoenix", were printed. They welcomed Christian missionaries, built
roads, houses and churches. In 1826 a Cherokee reported that his people possessed 22,000 cattle, 7,600
houses, 46,000 swine, 2,500 sheep, 762 looms, 1,488 spinning wheels, 2,948 plows 10 saw mills, 31 grist
mills, 62 blacksmith shops and 18 schools. They were more civilized than the Georgia "crackers", who
coveted their lands. The independence of that Cherokee nation had been guaranteed by the U.S. in a treaty
of 1791, but the state of Georgia had been chopping away at their lands for 30 years and the discovery of
gold in the area in 1828 was the last straw. The Indians had to be moved to Oklahoma Territory. The journey
cost them 25% of their numbers but they retained their identity, government, language and alphabet to this
day. (Ref. 64 ([94])) There were several important landmarks in the approach to the American Civil War.
Among these was the Dred Scott Decision. Dred Scott, a slave, having been taken temporarily into a free
state, sued for his freedom and the Supreme Court decided against him on these grounds: (1) A Negro could
not be a U.S. citizen and therefore could not sue. (2) As a resident of Missouri, the laws of Illinois (where
he had been taken) did not apply. (3) In any event, Congress could not deprive citizens of their property in this case a slave. This was in 1857. Another stepping stone toward war was John Brown’s raid: John
Brown, a long avid abolitionist, seized the federal arsenal at Harpers’ Ferry in October, 1859, as the first
step in establishing a planned Negro Republic. He was later hanged. In the meantime, Lincoln, as a member
of the new Republican Party, appeared on the scene. His party won the Congressional elections of 1860,
combining solid policies of Hamiltonian Federalism with the hopeful, humanitarian outlook of the old party
of Jefferson. Minnesota and Oregon were admitted as new states in 1858 and 1859, making 18 free and
still only 15 slave states. Lincoln won the new presidential election as the Democrats fought and split over
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
195
Douglas and Buchanan. (Ref. 39 ([60])) The Navaho Indians have withstood the white onslaught better than
most and this may be because they are cultural "borrowers" - learning agriculture, weaving and pottery from
their early, settled, Pueblo neighbors, stealing horses from the Spanish and many social and religious ideas
from the Mexicans. In 1863 Colonel Kit Carson subjugated the Navaho and imprisoned 8,500 of them in
Fort Sumner. After three years they were released to a 16 million acre reservation in the southwest. While
in prison some learned silver working and with this and their other skills they have survived as traders in
the American market. (Ref. 151 ([206]), 8 ([14]), 39 ([60])) Up to 1868 nearly 450 treaties had been signed
by the U.S. government with various Indian groups and scarcely a one remained unbroken. With the end
of the Indian wars an economic recession hit the West, for up to 1870 the federal administrations had been
spending about $1,000,000 for every Indian killed. (Ref. 64 ([94]))
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era152
Africa (Section 1.33)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.33)
Europe (Section 4.33)
The Far East (Section 6.33)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.33)
The Near East (Section 7.33)
Pacific (Section 8.33)
152 "A.D.
1801 to 1900" <http://cnx.org/content/m17730/latest/>
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
196
CHAPTER 2. AMERICA
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
Chapter 3
Central and Northern Asia
3.1 Geographical Presentation of Central and Northern Asia1
Back to Introduction to the Method of Geographical Presentation2
The reader will note on the map to follow that this geographical region is of the general magnitude of North America,
but much smaller than Africa. The map does not include the very far eastern tip of Soviet Siberia with the Magadan
region and the Kamchatka peninsula. That extends roughly 600 miles farther east than the edge of the diagram, but it is
of little interest in-this manuscript. Although the various sub-divisions of central and northern Asia are not discussed
formally, as such, in the text because of constant changing of borders and names throughout the centuries, the various
present day component parts will be discussed under their current names.
3.1.1 THE COMPONENT PARTS OF CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
The boundaries of this area have been chosen somewhat arbitrarily so that the region is bounded by European Russia
on the northwest, Manchuria and China on the southeast, Iran, Pakistan, India and Southeast Asia on the south and
otherwise by the Arctic and Pacific oceans and the Caspian Sea. Siberia is a vast land lying almost entirely north of
the 50th parallel. Just below its center lies Mongolia, at roughly the latitude of Poland, but about as large as Poland,
Germany and France together. In south central Asia the present states of Kazakh, Turkmen, Usbek, and Kirghiz all
are incorporated within the Soviet Union. The ancient and important city of Samarkand is in Usbek while Tashkent
lies at the eastern edge of Kirghiz. Standing alone south of these central states is the country of Afghanistan, shown
in yellow. All of these central Asian areas have a great mixture of Turkish and Mongolian peoples, with perhaps some
remnants of the old Indo-European speaking Kushans. The Moslem religion is predominant today.
The area shown in light red on the diagram deserves special mention. This is the Zvarea of Tibet and Sinkiang, both
of which are currently a part of the Peoples Republic of China. Historically and genetically, at least until very recent
years, however, these A-were central Asian peoples, not "Han" Chinese and so, ignoring the present political border
we have elected to include this large area under the heading of Central Asia. Thus there is a heavy dotted line border,
rather than a solid line about these regions, as at present they are not actually defined as "countries".
1 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17883/1.3/>.
to the Method of Geographical Presentation" <http://cnx.org/content/m17890/latest/>
2 "Introduction
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
197
198
CHAPTER 3. CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Figure 3.1: Central and Northern Asia (This map was obtained from http://english.freemap.jp/index.html3 and is
used with permission under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license4 .)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Africa (Section 1.1)
America (Section 2.1)
Europe (Section 4.1)
The Far East (Section 6.1)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.1)
The Near East (Section 7.1)
Pacific (Section 8.1)
3 http://english.freemap.jp/index.html
4 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
199
3.2 Central and Northern Asia: Beginning to 8000 B.C.5
3.2.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
It is of interest that some geologists have written that during much of the Triassic and Jurassic periods some 200 million
years ago, southern Tibet was largely submerged below the tropical sea of Tethys - water separating the continents of
Eurasia and Gondwanaland. During the Cretaceous period 65 million years ago, the Indian subcontinent separated,
moved across the Tethys and collided with Eurasia with a terrific impact which formed the Himalayan range and the
Tibetan plateau. The collision zone folded the earth’s crusts to almost a right angle. Then only a few million years ago
further uplift of the Himalayans occurred, incident to glaciation and other factors, and these mountains are still rising
at the rate of 1/2 centimeter a year. (Ref. 182 ([250]), 100 ([145]))
Skeletal remains have been found of the cave dwelling Neanderthal hunters all about the area from the Caspian to
the Aral seas. As the last Ice Age retreated, Siberian reindeer hunters progressively worked northward. Men of truly
modern type were pressing into this far north land some 35,000 years ago, where they hunted mammoths within a
hundred miles of the Arctic Circle, along the Pechora River. An early wave of men spread from the Ural Mountains
across central Asia to southern Siberia and Mongolia and their relics have come to be known as the Mal’ta - Afontova
Culture. A second wave penetrated eastern Siberia along the Aldan River and Soviet excavations there have shown
these people of the Diuktai Culture to have hunted mammoths, muskoxen, bison and giant woolly rhinoceroses about
35,000 years ago. These people may have been some of the first adventurers across the land bridge into Alaska. Certain
Siberian tribes existing today (Nganasans, Eutsis, Dogan Chukchi, etc.) have a complex time-factored mythology and
ceremonials, including lunar calendar notations, bear and reindeer ceremonies, etc. that are related to Upper Paleolithic
cultures of 15,000 to 35,000 years ago.
Around Lake Baikal and the upper Yenissei River well preserved artifacts dating to 20,000 years ago have been
excavated. These include huts and small art objects, such as carved geese figurines and tiny female statuettes. From
the latter it is apparent that these Mongoloid people wore skin suits, parka hoods and moccasins sewed on trousers. The
bow and arrow may have been invented in central Asia by 13,000 B.C. About 11,000 B.C. the Asiatic wolf probably
was under human control, but only by getting animals under six weeks of age. This was not true dog domestication.
(Ref. 211 ([284]), 45 ([66]), 226 ([302]), 182 ([250]), 130 ([180]))
Dr. Ales Hrdlicka has found on the southern slopes of the Himalayas among the Tibetan tribes a yellow-brown stock
which "in physique, in behavior, in dress, and even in intonations of language"(1) [?] appear identical with American
Indians. Could this be their original homeland?
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: 8000 to 5000 B.C. (Section 3.3)
3.3 Central and Northern Asia: 8000 to 5000 B.C.6
3.3.1 THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT
Back to Central and Northern Asia: Beginning to 8000 B.C. (Section 3.2)
Middle Stone Age sites with their delicate flake-shaped tools occurred mainly in India in the central and peninsular
areas, but also in the Soan Valley and at Sanghao in northeast India. Microliths and Mesoliths of the Late Stone Age
are distributed almost throughout the subcontinent, except in Pakistan. Interestingly enough, scattered in remote areas
throughout there are still today about twenty million aboriginal peoples such as the Gonds, Bondos, Kani, Todas and
Magas, of uncertain racial ancestry. A few seem to be related to the Australoids of Australia. Pollen analysis suggests
forest clearance and cereal culture in Rajasthan as early as the 8th millennium B.C. (Ref. 33 ([55]), 88 ([131]), 8
([14]))
5 This
6 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17843/1.2/>.
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17813/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
200
CHAPTER 3. CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: 5000 to 3000 B.C. (Section 3.4)
3.4 Central and Northern Asia: 5000 to 3000 B.C.7
3.4.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: 8000 to 5000 B.C. (Section 3.3)
An early phase of the Yang-Shao Culture which has been mentioned in connection with China has also been unearthed
at Pan-p’o-ts’un in central Asia. It had a slash and burn agriculture, domesticated animals and hand-made pottery.
In contrast to our remarks about the invention of the wheel in Sumer, some authorities believe that it was invented in
western Asia prior to 3,500 B.C., but the circumstances are unknown. It is possible that the inventors were relatives of
the Kurgans of south Russia who did bring wheeled chariots into Europe. (Ref. 175 ([241]))
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: 3000 to 1500 B.C. (Section 3.5)
3.5 Central and Northern Asia: 3000 to 1500 B.C.8
3.5.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: 5000 to 3000 B.C. (Section 3.4)
Throughout the fifteen hundred years covered in this chapter, the Iranian (Indo-European) tribes slowly expanded in all
directions, including various salients across southern Asia both east and north. By 2,500 B.C. the hunting economies
had begun to give way to herding and agriculture in Kazakhistan and central Siberia. Horse drawn carts were in
use in Turkistan by the same date. The pottery of all these people showed affinities to the Middle East. It was the
domestication of the horse which allowed them to spread and penetrate in all directions.
In the far northeast of Asia, the Mongol peoples continued their own development, probably more closely related to
the Chinese culture than to the Indo-European development. In the area which now comprises the western Chinese
provinces of Kansu and Sinkiang, but which geographically are more a part of central Asia, the Pan-Chan phase of
the Yang-shao Culture appeared about 2,500 B.C. with large urns painted in spirals with purple, brown, red and black.
By 1,500 B.C. this gave way to the Hsien-tien Culture which included farming and the use of hand-made pottery
and copper tools. Farther northwest, in the Yenisei Valley, the Afanasieve Culture with stock breeders and hunters,
stamped pottery, and copper ornaments have been dated to this 3rd millennium. By 1,500 B.C. the Androvonovo
Culture existed between the Don and the Yenisei rivers, with small settlements of up to ten semi-subterranean houses.
These individuals, who were the ancestors of the later nomads of the central Asiatic steppes, grew wheat and millet
and bred live-stock at that time. (Ref. 136 ([187]), 8 ([14]), 45 ([66]), 213 ([288]))
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: 1500 to 1000 B.C. (Section 3.6)
3.6 Central and Northern Asia: 1500 to 1000 B.C.9
3.6.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: 3000 to 1500 B.C. (Section 3.5)
Iranian (Indo-European) tribes occupied all of the area of south central Asia from the Aral Sea to the Tarim Basin, and
gradually extended their territories on east toward China and southeast into the Indian peninsula. At about 1,000 B.C.
7 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17812/1.2/>.
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17808/1.2/>.
9 This content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17807/1.2/>.
8 This
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
201
Iranians of Transoxia found that a rider could manage his horse on a battlefield, initiating a weapon that ultimately
outmoded the chariot. It is assumed that the Mongolian and the Hunnish-Turkish peoples were multiplying in the
farther north and northeastern reaches of Asia, but little actual information is available. In the 13th century B.C. in
south Siberia, the Karasuk Culture developed from the Androvonova, and there was a change from settled communities
to seasonal nomadism. Small curved knives similar to those at An-Yang in China have been found. (Ref. 136 ([187]),
45 ([66]))
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: 1000 to 700 B.C. (Section 3.7)
3.7 Central and Northern Asia: 1000 to 700 B.C.10
3.7.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: 1500 to 1000 B.C. (Section 3.6)
South central Asia was now occupied by various migrating Indo-European tribes, some moving gradually south between the Aral and Caspian seas and others moving west toward the southern Russian steppe. Ordos, the region of
Mongolia lying inside the loop of the Yellow River where it turns north, was inhabited by nomadic tribes, including
the Hsiung-nu, an Altaic-speaking Mongoloid people.11 Broad daggers, curved knives, harness ornaments and belt
plaques with animal profiles have been among the remnants found. Rock carvings in Tibet along the upper Indus
River valley in Ladakh on the Tibetian-Kashmir border dating 2,000 to 3,000 years ago indicate Stone Age hunters
with bows and arrows. Due to a gradual continued rise of the Himalayan arc and the resulting lessening of the effective
rainfall through the centuries much of this area is now desert. (Ref. 8 ([14]), 45 ([66]), 182 ([250]))
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: 700 to 601 B.C. (Section 3.8)
3.8 Central and Northern Asia: 700 to 601 B.C.12
3.8.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Back to to Central and Northern Asia: 1000 to 700 B.C. (Section 3.7)
The Hsiung-nu of the Mongolian region had horses of various breeds, among them one with an upright mane. They,
like the Huns of probable later descent, were expert horsemen. East of Mongolia excavations have revealed the Tagar
Culture, dating back to 700 B.C. and continuing for about 600 years. This included a semi-settled people who designed
animals on small knives, belt and harness plaques and broad daggers. The latter have also been found in South Russia
and on the northern borders of China.
The Iranians of Tranoxiana were a mixed group of tribes. Some, who moved on into southern Russia were known
as Scythians while their kinsmen who remained behind became known as Sakas. The Medes had pretty well left this
area to settle in Iran south of the Caspian, but behind them came their cousins, the Persians. Zoraster was born along
the Oxus River in this century and did much of his teaching in Khurasan. (Ref. 136 ([187]), 8 ([14]), 45 ([66]), 127
([176]))
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: 600 to 501 B.C. (Section 3.9)
10 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17815/1.2/>.
11 Some authorities deny that the Hsiung-nu can be identified as a separate people on the borders of China until the 2nd century B.C. See references
45 and 127 and this manuscript under 4th century B.C., CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA.
12 This content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17816/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
202
CHAPTER 3. CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
3.9 Central and Northern Asia: 600 to 501 B.C.13
3.9.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: 700 to 601 B.C. (Section 3.8)
There was probably very little change from the situation described in the last century. The Tagar culture people
continued in the north, the early Mongoloids in the northeast, and the proliferating Iranian tribes, especially the Sakas
and the eastern Medes, in the south.
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: 500 to 401 B.C. (Section 3.10)
3.10 Central and Northern Asia: 500 to 401 B.C.14
3.10.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: 600 to 501 B.C. (Section 3.9)
There were people in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia and an advanced people lived near Minusinsk, some
800 miles northeast of Lake Balkash and some 200 miles north of the northwestern corner of Mongolia in the Ordos
region of Siberia. The Rockefeller Collection contains a bronze reindeer mounted on a marble base representing a
known Tagar Period of art from that location. As mentioned in previous chapters this same Tagar Culture has been
found in more southern areas of Asia, also. The Persian Empire extended well up into central Asia from the Aral Sea
to the edge of the Tarim Basin and north of this the unconquered Sakas roamed at will. Just north of the Aral Sea, at
Issik near Alma Alta, one thousand gold objects dating to this 5th century B.C. have been excavated, indicating that
this had been an important trade route. (Ref. 45 ([66]), 183 ([251]), 176 ([242]))
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: 400 to 301 B.C. (Section 3.11)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era15
Africa (Section 1.10)
America (Section 2.10)
Europe (Section 4.10)
The Far East (Section 6.10)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.10)
The Near East (Section 7.10)
Pacific (Section 8.10)
3.11 Central and Northern Asia: 400 to 301 B.C.16
3.11.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: 500 to 401 B.C. (Section 3.10)
At Pasyryk in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia eight burials, dated from the 4th to the 2nd centuries B.C., have
been excavated. These contained wooden chariots, textiles and furniture as well as men with skin tattoos, all well
preseved by the perpetual frost. The Tagar Culture continued throughout much of the rest of Siberia. South central
13 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17806/1.3/>.
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17822/1.2/>.
15 "500 to 401 B.C." <http://cnx.org/content/m17701/latest/>
16 This content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17817/1.2/>.
14 This
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
203
Asia was overrun by Alexander as he went from Afghanistan through the Hindu Kush to Bukhara and Tashkent. At
the very end of the century, however, the Mauryan Dynasty of India took over a large part of Afghanistan.
As we shall see in the section on CHINA, below, the non-Chinese people of Mongolia and the adjacent part of Siberia
had now about completed their slow transition into full horse nomadism and they began to attack the Chinese perimeter,
as well as even taking to the sea toward Japan. Skulls from the Lake Baikal region of northern Mongolia, dated to this
era, are low faced skulls of the pre-Hsuing-nu population, and were different from the later high-faced skulls of the
true Hsuing-nu. (Ref. 45 ([66]), 8 ([14]), 101 ([146]), 127 ([176]))
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: 300 to 201 B.C. (Section 3.12)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era17
Africa (Section 1.11)
America (Section 2.11)
Europe (Section 4.11)
The Far East (Section 6.11)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.11)
The Near East (Section 7.11)
Pacific (Section 8.11)
3.12 Central and Northern Asia: 300 to 201 B.C.18
3.12.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: 400 to 301 B.C. (Section 3.11)
The homeland of the Parthians was on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea and about 247 B.C. they moved south,
taking territory away from the Seleucids, under their leader, Arsaces. Bactria became independent at 250 B.C. as a
Greco-Bactrian kingdom under Diodotus, and it became the center of a web of caravan routes linking Siberia and
China with India, Persia and the Mediterranean cities. (Ref. 8 ([14])) Farther north in Siberia, Tagar Culture groups
continued as in recent centuries. In Inner Mongolia, the Hsiung-nu was just forming as the first great confederation of
Altaic-speaking nomads. (Ref. 101 ([146])) Afghanistan was ruled by the Maurya Dynasty of India, until this entire
area was reclaimed by the Syrian Antiochus III at the end of the century.
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: 200 to 101 B.C. (Section 3.13)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era19
Africa (Section 1.12)
America (Section 2.12)
Europe (Section 4.12)
The Far East (Section 6.12)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.12)
The Near East (Section 7.12)
Pacific (Section 8.12)
17 "400
to 301 B.C." <http://cnx.org/content/m17700/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17818/1.2/>.
19 "300 to 201 B.C." <http://cnx.org/content/m17699/latest/>
18 This
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
204
CHAPTER 3. CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
3.13 Central and Northern Asia: 200 to 101 B.C.20
3.13.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: 300 to 201 B.C. (Section 3.12)
Bactria, astride the Hindu Kush and making up the northern part of present day Afghanistan, was ruled by Greek kings
as remnants of Alexander’s empire, and the country allowed Indian, Chinese, Iranian and Greek cultures to meet and
intertwine. For the next two or three hundred years this was the hub of the east-west Ecumene, even though the Yue-chi
destroyed the political unity of the Kingdom of Bactria. (Ref. 139 ([192])) This take-over was part of a new turmoil
which arose in central Asia about 130 B.C. as Huns from far eastern central Asia (perhaps Mongolia) started to push
the Yue-chi (Tocharians) westward and they in turn chased a few remaining Scythians beyond the Jaxartes River21 .
The Scythians, in turn, headed southward and destroyed the Greco-Bactrian kingdom just mentioned, on their way to
the Punjab of India, with the Yue-chi following later in about 100 B.C. via northern Afghanistan.
The Huns just mentioned were chiefly the Hsuing-nu, under Chief Modok, and they soon dominated not only Mongolia
but the Indo-European oasis statelets of Chinese Turkestan as well. Armor called "chia" was worn at least by the nobles
in the Hsuing-nu army.
The word may mean "hide armor" but in graves at Noin Ula, Mongolia and Tuva, Siberia armor made of iron scales
attached to fabric has been found dating to this century. Bronze, iron and leather were probably all used. After the
conquest of Tuva, the Hsuing-nu population, which was already racially mixed, became even more Europoid22 . (Ref.
127 ([176]))
The Chinese ruler, Wu-Ti, spent the resources and energies of China for eighteen years in great campaigns against
the Hsuing-nu and they were finally driven out of Inner Mongolia, Kansu and Chinese Turkestan. Ferghana, west of
the Tarim Basin was the homeland of "heavenly horses" which the Chinese felt they had to have in their cavalry to
counteract the agile ponies of the Hsuing-nu and other raiding - nomads. At the end of the century Wu-Ti sent armies
to subdue the nomads of Sinkiang and go through this area to get the horses. A Chinese explorer had reached this
Ferghana Valley in 128 B.C. and a military garrison had been established by 101 B.C. The western edge of the arid
Tarim Basin was the source of jade for the Chinese carvers. Farther west, the Parthians had extended their empire
south and east to take in part of Khurasan and the edge of the Hindu Kush. The Bactrian camel, in this and adjacent
centuries, served all the barbarians from the Great Wall of China to the Crimea as pack and riding animals. (Ref. 139
([192]), 101 ([146]), 8 ([14]), 127 ([176]))
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: 100 to 0 B.C. (Section 3.14)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era23
Africa (Section 1.13)
America (Section 2.13)
Europe (Section 4.13)
The Far East (Section 6.13)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.13)
The Near East (Section 7.13)
Pacific (Section 8.13)
20 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17821/1.2/>.
classical view of one people "chasing" or "driving" another ahead of them is not accepted by the scholarly Maenchen-Helfen (Ref. 127
([176])) who believes the migrations took place for other reasons
22 "Europoid" is a term used by Soviet anthropologists to indicate "non-Mongoloid"
23 "200 to 101 B.C." <http://cnx.org/content/m17698/latest/>
21 This
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
205
3.14 Central and Northern Asia: 100 B.C. to 024
3.14.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: 101 to 0 B.C. (Section 3.13)
In the north China, under Emperor Wu-ti, again took the offensive against the Hsiung-nu and rebuilt the old Ch’in
wall, then opened up the route to central Asia, extending control over the oasis states of the Tarim Basin. In 44 B.C.
Wu-ti defeated the Hsiung-nu along the border and pushed them west where they fled to the Lake Bakal region already
occupied by the Yue-chi. The latter were then pushed west and south to take over Bactria and confront the Parthian
Empire of Persia. The last defeat of the Huns (Hsiung-nu) by the Chinese military forces came in 36 B.C. when an
expeditionary force completely broke up the Asiatic’s power. (Ref. 136 ([187]), 8 ([14]))
At the beginning of the century two Greek principalities remained just south of the central Asian Massive and south
of them, extending into present day Pakistan were the Iranian Sakas in the east and the related Iranian Suren Kingdom
to the west. About the middle of the century the latter invaded the Indus Valley, breaking the power of the Sakas
and deposing the last of the Indo-Greek princes. At about the same time the Huns also recovered and began to more
south again against the Greater Yue-chi (Kushans), then occupying the entire region between the Oxus and the Jaxartes
rivers, and soon extending through their Suren cousins, their control down the Indus in present day Pakistan. In this
era Tibet was closer to India, culturally, than to China or other Asian centers. (Ref. 136 ([187]), 8 ([14]))
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: 0 to A.D. 100 (Section 3.15)
3.15 Central and Northern Asia: 0 to A.D. 10025
3.15.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: 100 to B.C. (Section 3.14)
The Silk Road trade reached its peak in this century, sustaining a string of states extending along the caravan roads
from Roman Syria to the northwest border of China. In Bactria, a union of five Yue-chi tribes took the Kabut Valley,
driving out the Pahlavas and soon establishing an empire which comprised all of Afghanistan as well as northwestern
India. The Kushans were apparently one clan of the Yue-chi which included or was synonymous with the Tocharians,
but they were dominant in this expansionist drive and the entire empire soon bore their name only. These Kushans
even sent an embassy across the Caspian Sea and into Armenia to meet with the Romans in A.D. 58. The empire was
a melting pot, with Indian, Chinese, central Asian and Helleno-Roman culture and their coins showed a wide range of
deities, some Hellenistic (Heliols, Hephaistos), Iranian (Mithra, Nana) and Indian (Siva, Buddha). (Ref. 140 ([190]),
8 ([14]), 19 ([32]))
The Kushans pushed their administration on into India subjugating the Surens and Sakas. They then reversed their
armies and turned northward toward China, but were defeated by the great Chinese General Pan Ch’ao who was on a
campaign to control Sinkiang (Tarim Basin) in A.D. 90. Pan Ch’ao then led his army across the Pamir Mountains to
reach the Caspian Sea.
In the meantime, the Tibetians had attacked northwest China without much success. In the far north, the northern
Hsuing-nu (Huns) were defeated by the southern Hsuing-nu in A.D. 85 and then were further beaten by the Mongol
Sien-pi in 87 and by the Chinese General Tou Hsien in 89. It is no wonder that although part of them submitted
to overlords, a great part of the survivors migrated westward, leaving their lands to the Mongols. This westward
migration of the Huns was furthered by famine and anthrax among their cattle and horses. Along the steppe adjacent
to China they were joined by Iranian herdsmen, Mongols from the forests of Siberia and even Chinese renegades and
captive Europoids of various tribes, all of them subsequently called "Huns" as they gradually headed toward Europe.
24 This
25 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17809/1.2/>.
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17811/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
206
CHAPTER 3. CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
A great part of the Hsuing-nu confederacy, however, consisted of Mongoloids of the Baikal type, but this does not
mean that all Mongoloids of this type were Hsuing-nu. (Ref. 127 ([176])) The fiery, black-browed horsemen of the
steppe, normally well nourished on animal protein foods, could easily overcome their more slated, carbohydrate fed
Chinese neighbors, except when strong dynasties were in power such as the Han, in control at that time. (Ref. 222
([296]))
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 101 to 200 (Section 3.16)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era26
Africa (Section 1.15)
America (Section 2.15)
Europe (Section 4.15)
The Far East (Section 6.15)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.15)
The Near East (Section 7.15)
Pacific (Section 8.15)
3.16 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 101 to 20027
3.16.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: 0 to A.D. 100 (Section 3.15)
In far eastern and northern Asia Mongolian nomads, perhaps with some admixture of Turkish, Europoid elements, all
of which are traditionally considered as ancestors of the Huns, lived as harsh, bow-legged men with large heads and
massive chests which apparently helped them to withstand the blazing days and freezing nights of the Gobi desert.
Their chief meat was mutton, but occasionally they ate beef, horse or camel and the humps of the latter were considered
a great delicacy. In general, in the wilder areas the cattle did not adapt well and camels were not sufficiently productive,
having only a single foal every three years. The yak was used for milk, rather than fundamentally for meat. (Ref. 211
([284]))
As pack animals the horse and Bactrian camel were the means of opening the great commercial routes across the
central Asian steppe, with many change-over points along the way. Stone Tower, somewhere north of the Pamirs, was
the great meeting place where exquisite Chinese silks and exotic spices were bartered for Roman glassware, pottery,
asbestos cloth, coral beads, gems, grape wine for the emperor of China, silver and gold.
The drain of gold from the West was fantastic in amount. In the desert at the north of the Tarim Basin at present day
Turpan (or Turfan) about 950 underground canals called "Karez" were constructed to bring irrigation water from the
Tian Shan (Celestial Mountains) to the desert, where a melon and grape growing oasis was thus developed. The Han
Chinese ruled Turpan at this time, but through the centuries it was controlled by numerous Central Asian peoples.
The "blue-print" for such an underground water system was brought along the silk route from Persia, where the canals
were called "Qanats". (Ref. 211 ([284]), 73 ([112]))
As noted in the last chapter, the Tocharians and other Yue-chi tribes had combined to create the vast Kushan Empire
which in this century covered almost the entire central Asian land mass in its southern portion. Their greatest king,
Kanishka, ruled this empire from India, and more details will be written in that section of this chapter. On the Turkistan
frontier with China, Mongol Hsiung-nu, Tibetans and other tribesmen lived side by side with the Chinese, who still
ruled at least the most eastern portion of this area, although their protectorate over the Tarim Basin had lapsed in A.D.
106. (Ref. 136 ([187]))
26 "0
to A.D. 100" <http://cnx.org/content/m17696/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17840/1.2/>.
27 This
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
207
to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 201 to 300 (Section 3.17)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era28
Africa (Section 1.16)
America (Section 2.16)
Europe (Section 4.16)
The Far East (Section 6.16)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.16)
The Near East (Section 7.16)
Pacific (Section 8.16)
3.17 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 201 to 30029
3.17.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 200 to 301 B.C. (Section 3.16)
In the regions of Afghanistan and western Turkestan the Kushan Empire split into several principalities and the Persian
Sassanids appear to have rapidly established some dominance over the nearest of these, but their claim to have made
the Oxus and the Indus their frontiers seems over-stated. The Kushan states certainly continued to exist as political
entities until the 5th century. With the fall of the Han Dynasty in A.D. 220, China lost control of eastern Turkestan,
and the Kushans, with some Persian influence, once again gained control. Still farther north the Hunnish tribes were
flourishing.
By the opening of this century all parts of the 2,500 mile trade route from Syria to the Tarim Basin were under pressure
by barbarians and a great deal of the trade had already shifted to sea lanes in the Indian Ocean. Along the silk route,
however, art flourished from this century for the next 700 years as a remarkable combination of stylistic elements
drawn from India, Persia and China. Stone was scarce, but decorated wood pieces and tempera painting on wood was
common. (Ref. 136 ([187]), 8 ([14]), 19 ([32]))
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 301 to 400 (Section 3.18)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era30
Africa (Section 1.17)
America (Section 2.17)
Europe (Section 4.17)
The Far East (Section 6.17)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.17)
The Near East (Section 7.17)
Pacific (Section 8.17)
3.18 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 301 to 40031
3.18.1 CENTRAL ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 201 to 300 (Section 3.17)
28 "A.D.
101 to 200" <http://cnx.org/content/m17708/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17838/1.2/>.
30 "A.D. 201 to 300" <http://cnx.org/content/m17709/latest/>
31 This content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17826/1.2/>.
29 This
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
208
CHAPTER 3. CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
In this century the Persians continued to rule and populate both Afghanistan and Turkistan, introducing Zorastrianism
to the area. In 371 the Ephthalites (White Huns32 ) invaded the upper Oxus (ancient Bactria) but the Persian Shapur II
came to an understanding with them and subsequently these people actually guarded this part of the Persian domain.
It was apparently a sharpening of the climate in this part of the world which forced the nomadic tribes to other pastures
toward the end of this 4th century. Rather than go east against strong China, even after the fall of the Han Dynasty,
many of the Huns turned west, riding bony, rough haired, small headed horses with short, strong legs, needing little
water and covering over 60 miles a day. (See footnote on previous page). As we have seen in the paragraphs above,
other peoples were ahead of them, in the greatest mass migrations known, before or since. (Ref. 33 ([55]))
Up through this century Tibet was divided into 13 principalities with war continually raging between them. (Ref. 272
([292]))
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 401 to 500 (Section 3.19)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era33
Africa (Section 1.12)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.12)
Europe (Section 4.12)
The Far East (Section 6.12)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.12)
The Near East (Section 7.12)
Pacific (Section 8.12)
3.19 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 401 to 50034
3.19.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 301 to 400 (Section 3.18)
By this century the Kushans had become completely Persianized and by A.D. 440 they were swept away by the
Epthalites coming down from the Altaic region in repeated raids. After terrorizing the Persians and conquering
Afghanistan in A.D. 460 these misnamed "White Huns"35 left Persia alone and went on to India. The center of
power of the Altaic nomads was the country along the Great Wall of China and in Mongolia, north of the Gobi desert
and from there they struck both southward and westward. This great nomad power had begun with the Hsiung-nu who,
after being defeated by the Chinese Han in the 1st century C.E. had re-established themselves in central Asia and had
taken some Iranians and Mongoloid tribes from the forests of Siberia into their fold. (Ref. 137 ([188]), 8 ([14]))
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 501 to 600 (Section 3.20)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Intro to Era36
Africa (Section 1.19)
America (Section 2.19)
Europe (Section 4.19)
The Far East (Section 6.19)
32 See
footnote under IRAN, 5th century C.E.
to 201 B.C." <http://cnx.org/content/m17699/latest/>
34 This content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17837/1.2/>.
35 See footnote on Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 301 to 400 (Section 3.18)
36 "A.D. 401 to 500" <http://cnx.org/content/m17711/latest/>
33 "300
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
209
6. The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.19)
7. The Near East (Section 7.19)
8. Pacific (Section 8.19)
3.20 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 501 to 60037
3.20.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 401 to 500 (Section 3.19)
In eastern Asia the successors of the Hsiung-nu were the Kok Turuk, also called the Blue or Celestial Turks and these
were the people who by 550 were driving the Juan-Juan out of Mongolia. (See also CHINA, this chapter). Their
successors in Mongolia were the Turks, proper, called T’u-Chu⇠eh by the Chinese. This Turkish Empire was an
exceptional one which could bear on western China and the Europe-Near East areas all at the same time. It now
advanced rapidly and crushed the Ephthalites in 553, allowing the Persians to again occupy the lands south of the
Oxus. The amalgamated remnants of the Juan-Juan and the Ephthalites were known in the West as the Avars. Previous
to this the latter of the two peoples had lived in Bactria and had continuously raided Persia. In this century the Avars
had already reached the Balkans and Hungary. Some place in this mass of migrating, nomadic peoples the stirrup was
developed and this made it possible for horsemen to ride fast and meet a shock, as with a lance, and still survive. (Ref.
8 ([14]), 101 ([146]), 137 ([188]), 213 ([288]))
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 601 to 700 (Section 3.21)
3.21 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 601 to 70038
3.21.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 501 to 600 (Section 3.20)
The Great Turkish Confederation controlled most of central Asia and particularly Turkistan, at the beginning of the
century. Chinese diplomacy started to break up this Turkish control by 630 and then the Chinese military reconquered
the Tarim Basin in 648 and West Turkistan in 656 at the peak of their expansion into Central Asia. The break-up of
the Turkish Confederation thus allowed the Moslems to take the Oxus region just after the middle of the century with
very little resistance.
The Chinese of the T’ang Dynasty were supported by the Turkic speaking Uigurs (also Uighurs), who were called
"Yee-che" by the Chinese. Actually the Turks of Mongolia had made the Chinese T’ang ruler, T’ai-tsung, their Grand
Khan in 630’ Near the oasis of Dunhuang, just west of the Great Wall of China and now a part of China, and northeast
of the Tarim Basin, lie the caves of the Thousand Buddhas, constructed chiefly during the T’ang Dynasty (A.D. 618906). In subsequent centuries pilgrims from all over central Asia traveled to visit this labyrinth of sculptures and
frescoes painted by Buddhist monks.
(Ref. 8 ([14]), 101 ([146]), 73 ([112]))
Tibet was unified early in the century when rival fiefdoms began to be consolidated by King Sontsan Ganbo (or
Ganbu), who incidentally married two foreign queens, one from the T’ang Dynasty of China and one a princess of
Nepal. An embassy was sent to China in 641. Although the Tibetans became Buddhists, they maintained a war
ethos and continued at intervals to fight the Chinese over a period of two centuries. Xenophobic policies prohibiting
foreigners, along with the world’s highest and most difficult terrain, was then sufficient to keep Tibet isolated from
37 This
38 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17830/1.2/>.
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17839/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
210
CHAPTER 3. CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
the rest of the world for hundreds of years. The Tibetans remained independent in essence until the 20th century,
even though the Chinese have long claimed sovereignty (even back to this 7th century). Tibetans retained a separate
language, culture, borders, money and religion. The holiest shrine still standing in the center of Lhasa is the Jokhang,
built around A.D. 650 and serving as the Buddhist "Mecca" to the Tibetan faithful. (Ref. 272 ([292]), 228 ([304]), 182
([250]))
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 701 to 800 (Section 3.22)
3.22 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 701 to 80039
3.22.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 601 to 700 (Section 3.21)
In the northern portions of Central Asia, from the Aral Sea and the Syr Darya Valley east to Manchuria, the rulers
were the Blue or Celestial Turks (See page 421). They appear to have driven other Turkish tribes westward, including
the Ogur and also their former rulers, the Juan-Juan of Mongolia. In the most northeastern part of Mongolia the
Uigurs seized control in 744, establishing a capital on the Orkhon River near the site of later Karakorum. The most
far flung eastward group of Indo-European (Europoid) tribes were those who reached Chinese Turkistan and were
called Tocharians. Their language was written down in this century. The western region of Central Asia, Kashgar,
was overtaken by the advance of Islam and due to the energy of the local emir (governor), considerable advance was
made against the Turks. The Arabs controlled all of western Turkistan and Afghanistan and the Moslem religion has
persisted there until this day.
The Arabs were helped in driving the Chinese out of west Turkistan by the Karluk Turks, who attacked the Chinese
from the rear. This Chinese army was finally completely defeated at the Talas River just south and west of Lake
Balkhash in A.D. 751 in one of those decisive battles of history. China was not to be influential in Central Asia for six
centuries and Buddhism gave way to Islam. Of some importance, too, is the fact that some of the captured Chinese
soldiers brought the art of making paper with them to the West. (Ref. 8 ([14]), 38 ([59]), 19 ([32]), 101 ([146]))
Padma Sambhava, an Indian guru, brought Buddhism to Tibet, heretofore rife with spirits, demigods and demons.
Called to the country by King Trisong Detsan, the guru brought writing to the country and blended native beliefs with
the Hindu and Buddhist cults of Tantrism, so that Tibet was under Indian influence after A.D. 750. (Ref. 157 ([213]))
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 801 to 900 (Section 3.23)
3.23 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 801 to 90040
3.23.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 701 to 800 (Section 3.22)
Islam and China each dominated large portions of Central Asia at this time. Chinese porcelain has been found, dating
to this period, in Tarsus and Cairo, apparently carried from T’ang China through the Tarim Basin and the Pamirs to
the mideast trade routes. (Ref. 58 ([86]), 8 ([14])) In an area east of a line drawn from the Aral Sea to the south end
of the Caspian, then designated as "eastern Persia", the separate Tahirid Dynasty ruled in the early century. Near the
end of the era the northern part was ruled by the Samanid Emirate and the southern by the Saffarid Emirate (874)
from Persia, proper. By A.D. 900, however, the Samanids had taken over the entire area. At that time Bokhara and
Samarkand rivaled Baghdad as centers of art and learning and the Persian language was used throughout. (Ref. 137
([188])) Additional Notes (p. 211)
39 This
40 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17828/1.2/>.
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17833/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
211
The Uigurs were chased out of Mongolia in A.D. 840 by the Kirghis Turks and the former moved to Turf an in the
desert, which is now part of Sinkiang, China, where they reigned for the next 400 years. Those people eventually
converted to Islam and later transmitted their script to the Mongols. (Ref. 38 ([59])) The Kirghiz Turks moved on
down to take part of Turkistan and developed almost a Persian culture as they adopted the Manichean religion. North
of western China were the "Western Turks" and the most western group of these were called "Ghuzz". (Ref. 8 ([14]),
137 ([188]))
In southern Siberia in the mountainous border area between Mongolia and Manchuria, just south of Lake Baikal, were
forest hunters who claimed descent from the Hsiung-nu, but who were more apt to have been related to the Juan-Juan
tribes that were in Mongolia in the 5th century. At any rate, these are the Mongols that later were to be the warriors of
Genghis Khan and at the end of this 9th century they started to migrate into the Siberian plain around the Onon River.
Some remained hunters and fishermen while others became pastoral nomads. The latter became the true Mongols,
proper. (Ref. 101 ([146]))
NOTE : At the end of this 9th century huge silver deposits were found in Transoxiania, making it very rich. Its
Samanid rulers began to mint vast quantities of large coins, many of which went to Russia, chiefly through
the Bulgars on the middle Volga. (Ref. 301 ([258]))
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 901 to 1000 (Section 3.24)
3.24 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 901 to 100041
3.24.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 801 to 900 (Section 3.23)
Just northwest of the western end of the Great Wall of China, the Tanguts (a Tibetan tribe) founded the powerful
kingdom of Hsi-hsia in the areas of Ninghsia and Kansu. The Khitan Mongols, under their dynastic founder, Ye-lu
A-pao-Chi (907-926) conquered all Inner Mongolia and, as we shall see later in the chapter, most of Manchuria and
northern China. (Ref. 119 ([166]), 279 ([191])) To the southwest the Khwarism (Khorezm) Turks took their name
from their ancient and medieval state centered on the basin of the lower Amu Darya River and in 995 the country was
united under the emirs of north Khwarism whose capital, Urgench, became a major seat of Arabic learning. (Ref. 38
([59]), 8 ([14]), 125 ([173]))
Afghanistan fell to the Turks of Turkistan in A.D. 962. The Samanid Emirate, extending east from Persia, was partially
crushed and Transoxiana lost to the Karakhanid Turks in 990 but it remained for another Turk, General Mahmud, one
of the greatest figures in Central Asian history, to completely overthrow the Samanids in 999, initiating the Ghaznawid
Emirate in that entire area of southern, central Asia. Bokhara and Samarkand continued to be great centers of learning
and art while the great Friday Mosque at Herat was already attracting scholars and philosophers from all over the
Islamic world. (Ref. 137 ([188]), 144 ([197]))
In Tibet the two wives of one of the kings converted him to Buddhism and after that Chinese writings were brought
into the nation. One such writing, the "Tanjur" contained medical information. (Ref. 125 ([173]))
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1001 to 1100 (Section 3.25)
3.25 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1001 to 110042
3.25.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 14780 (Section 3.24)
41 This
42 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17841/1.2/>.
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17825/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
212
CHAPTER 3. CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Early in the century Mahmud the Turk, ruler of Afghanistan, moved out of his base at Ghazni to conquer most of
Persia and the Punjab of India, along with most of central Asia, establishing the greatest empire of this period. Ghazni
equaled Baghdad as a cultural center of Islam. Khwaja Abdallah Ansari (1006-1088), who was to become the patron
saint of Herat in eastern Afghanistan, lived among the mullahs and doctors of law, preaching his religious philosophy
in the center of this Moslem area. (Ref. 144 ([197])) Mahmud’s empire was short-lived, however, as the Seljuq Turks
descended from Transoxiana to take Asiatic Islam piece by piece. The great Seljuq sultan, Malik-Shah, had as his
general a still more famous Suleiman. Just north of the Sel juqs were the Karkhanis Turks and still north of them were
the Ghuzz, parent body of the off-shoot Seljuqs. (Ref. 8 ([14]), 144 ([197]), 137 ([188]))
Still farther north the Uigurs were active on the northwest China border. Little is known about the great expanse of
Siberia specifically at this time, but certainly one must assume that it was sparsely inhabited with northern Mongoloid
hunters.
Tibet, although previously influenced by Nepal and Kashmir of India, now began to show a character of its own,
particularly in its art work, which demonstrated special talent in inlays of gold and silver. It was already a country full
of missionaries, monks and monasteries. (Ref. 19 ([32]), 157 ([213]))
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1101 to 1200 (Section 3.26)
3.26 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1101 to 120043
3.26.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1001 to 1100 (Section 3.25)
In Khwarizm an enormous army had been built up by Khutbeddin Muhammad, a Turkish mercenary who had governed
the area on behalf of the Seljuq Turks and then finally declared his independence. The basic population of this area
was still Persian and no match for the fierce Turks and their Kipchak and Cuman bodyguards. In 1141 Transoxiana
fell to the Karakhitai, Buddhist Mongolians whose khanate stretched over all of Turkistan. In Afghanistan the Turk
Mahmud’s empire fell to hordes of semi-barbarians from the mountainous region of central Afghan called Chor. Under
Ala ad-Din Jahansoz, a powerful new Moslem dynasty was then established. (Ref. 27 ([46]), 19 ([32]))
When the Liao Dynasty was overthrown by the invading Jurchen in the northern area of China (See CHINA, this
chapter), the Liaon Yeg-lu Ta-shih fled west and found protection among the Uigurs, finally establishing a Western
Liao state in far inner Asia, subjecting the local Moslem Turkic people, who called the new state "Kara Khitae",
meaning "Black Ch’i-tan". (Ref. 101 ([146]))
Tibetan art work reached a high cultural level with still more beautiful gold and silver inlay productions. (Ref. 19
([32]))
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1201 to 1300 (Section 3.27)
3.27 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1201 to 130044
3.27.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA (See map this same section, next chapter)
Back to Central and Northern Asia: 1101 to 1200 (Section 3.26)
At the turn of the century Ali-ad-Din came to the throne of Khwarizm as Muhammad II and he soon added southern
Khurasan and its peaceful Persians to his empire. To the east was the Tranoxiana Empire and to the northeast of that
43 This
44 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17834/1.2/>.
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17842/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
213
the powerful Buddhist Empire of Kara Khitae, screening Islam from the new power developing in Mongolia around
Karakorum. It was in 1206 that Temujin, leader of the Yakka tribe of Mongolians of the Gobi desert, in council with
other tribal leaders of the region, took the title of Genghis45 Khan (meaning "Lord of the Earth") and started to lead
his soldiers south. (Ref. 137 ([188])) As the Mongols conquered Kara Khitai, Ali-ad-Din took Transoxiana with its
great wealth and its 500,000 people. (Ref. 27 ([46])) Additional Notes (p. 216)
It was the normal procedure of the Mongols to send emissaries ahead, bearing lavish gifts and suggesting trade, with
new regions. Thus, before attacking Khwarizm in 1220, Mongolian merchants arrived with 500 camels laden with
gold, silver, silk and sables. But Ali-ad-Din murdered the ambassador and the merchants and confiscated the gifts.
When still another ambassador arrived at Samarkand to protest, the Shah, himself, burned the beards and hair of the
escorts and sent the ambassador’s head back to Karakorum. Then with 400,000 Turks and Persian auxiliaries, as well
as thousands more armed slaves, Muhammad Shah sat back and awaited the arrival of the supposedly small, inferior
Mongol army.
But the fate of Khwarizm had been sealed and the first attack occurred at the city of the original emissary massacre
where Genghis Khan’s two sons, Ogedei and Chagati, destroyed the city and killed everyone but the guilty governor,
who was taken back to the Great Khan’s headquarters where molten metal was poured into his eyes and ears until he
died. A second Mongol force, led by Jebe Noyon46 went south with 20,000 men into Khurasan below the Amu Darya,
to draw off any major force there, while Jochi (also Juchi), another son of the Great Khan, rode west destroying major
fortifications. Genghis, himself, with Subedei Bahadur of the Reindeer people turned north and then came in from
the flank at the Aral Sea while Jochi came up from the south in a flanking maneuver. After some very rough battles,
the Khwarizmian army was annihilated and Genghis appeared at the gates of Bakhara, 400 miles behind the main
battle lines. Samarkand fell shortly thereafter and only the Shah escaped, fleeing westward to the Caspian Sea. Jebe,
Subedei and Toguchar followed him at the rate of 80 miles a day, accepting the surrender of various cities on the way.
The Shah mercifully died of pneumonia before they caught him, so the Mongol task force then spent the winter on the
edge of Azerbaijan. The city of Tabriz saved itself by the payment of an enormous amount of silver and thousands of
horses. Subedei was summoned home and he covered the 1,200 miles back to Karakorum in seven days. It was on that
occasion that the Great Khan instructed Subedei to take Jebe and make a reconnaissance through the western steppes
of Asia and Russia during the next two years. (Ref. 27 ([46])) At about this same time, other Mongol armies were
completing the annexation of the Kara Khitae Khanate in Manchuria and were starting to conquer China. (Ref. 137
([188]))
This seems a good time to stop a moment and examine in a little more detail the method of living, the skill of fighting
and traveling and other characteristics of these Mongol people. Their activities represent the last and most violent
assault of nomadic barbarism on civilization. Ethnically their invasions resulted in the wide dispersal of Turkic peoples
over western Asia, as from the beginning the Mongols augmented their sparse armies from Turkish tribes, sometimes
the latter outnumbering the former and the Mongol language survived only in the homeland. Their original religion
was an ancestral shamanism, embodied in the Yasa or Law of Genghis Khan, but early they tolerated Christians,
Buddhists and Moslems. (Ref. 8 ([14])) The Mongol army was composed of turnens, consisting each of 10,000 men
and divided into 10 minghans of 1,000 men with each minghan further divided into 10 jaguns of 100 men each and
finally down to arbans of 10 soldiers each. The commanders of both the minghans and tumens were called Noyans
and were appointed by the khan, while the jaguns and arbans elected their own leaders. An army, commanded by an
Orlok, consisted of 3 or more tumens of cavalry, several minghans of artillery and engineers. The more experienced
soldiers of ten slashed their cheeks to make thick scars, thereby stopping beard growth and consequently eliminating
the need for shaving. Each cavalryman carried two bows, at least 60 arrows, a lasso and a dagger. In addition the light
cavalrymen carried a small sword and 2 or 3 javelins, while the heavy cavalrymen carried a scimitar, a battle-axe or a
mace and a 12 foot lance. In their saddlebags were a change of clothing, cooking pot, field rations (yoghurt, millet,
dried meat and kumiz), leather water bottles, fishing line, files for sharpening arrows, needle and thread and other
tools. The composite bow had a pull of between 100 and 160 pounds and a range of over 350 yards. It was made from
layers of horn and sinew and the string was pulled back by a stone ring worn on the right thumb for quick release.
45 As
noted in the introductory material, the spelling of this name varies with the source - Jenghis, Ginghis, Genghis, Ghingis etc.)
had originally been an enemy of the Great Khan but now was a loyal supporter
46 Jebe
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
214
CHAPTER 3. CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
The horses were thickset, strong with short legs, but 13 to 14 hands high - at least a hand higher than the average
Mongolian domestic horse of today. A few of these horses may have been even 16 hands high. All, from birth, were
trained to follow each other. Mares were preferred as one could get milk as well as blood and as a last resort flesh, if
necessary. (Ref. 27 ([46]), 279 ([191]))
According to Marco Polo47 , the Mongols skimmed off cream (for butter), then dried the skim milk in the sun until
dry. They would take this with them and each morning take a pound out and put it in a leather flask with water so that
while they rode the milk would dissolve and they would soon have reconstituted milk for breakfast. For a rapid 10 day
journey, each man had a string of 18 horses and would take no provisions, living on the blood of the horses - piercing
veins and drinking about 5/8 pint every 10th day from each animal. In this way the rider could be sustained without
impairing the mounts. On such a forced trip the soldier would use no fire, in part because of the danger of being seen
and in part because there was probably no fuel. In general, the nomad diet was high in protein, fat and vitamins A and
B but low in vitamin C (except in Scythian territory).
They got their vitamin C from mare’s milk, which is 4 times as high in this as cow’s milk. (Ref. 211 ([284])) The
Mongol fighting tactics were far ahead of their time. In World War II, both Rommel and Patton were students and
admirers of Subedei, perhaps the greatest tactician of the Mongol generals. (Ref. 27 ([46]))
We have discussed the original reconnaissance of the Russian steppe in the preceding paragraphs in the section on
RUSSIA and we shall not repeat that here, but we need to pick up the narrative as the Mongols were retreating back to
Asia. It has been noted that the Mongol armies had received 10,000 reinforcements under Genghis Khan’s son, Jochi,
as they defeated the Kama Bulgars on the upper Volga. They then rode on east to the lands of the eastern Cuman
Kanglis, who had supplied so many soldiers to Muhammed II back in 1220 in the original Khwarizm war. Only when
they had been annihilated and the Kangli khan killed were they ready to rejoin the Great Khan on the Irtish River. Enroute Jebe died of a fever.
By this time Genghis was camped in a fertile valley, holding court on a golden throne in a huge, white pavilion that was
capable of holding 2,000 people. Jochi gave his father a gift of over 100,000 horses that he had taken in tribute from
the Kanglis. In two years, these Mongols had already ridden over 5,500 miles, and their real campaign of conquest
into Europe had not even begun.
The career of that great instigator, Genghis Khan (1207-1227) is the most dramatic example in all history of the
potentialities of nomad warfare. Superior generalship, mobility of cavalry and what today would be called "staff
work", gave the Mongols superiority over every enemy they encountered. Genghis, although unbelievably cruel to
his enemies and traitors, was in every other way a surprisingly enlightened and liberal ruler. His codified laws,
eventually governing 50 nations, were far less cruel than the laws of Islam. Karakorum was a city where churches,
mosques and temples stood side by side. This capital had been visited by William of Rubruck some forty years before
Marco Polo’s time, as an emissary of Louis IX of France. William described a giant silver fountain which had been
constructed by Guillaume Houcher, a French goldsmith, which contained four spouts which dispensed respectively
kumiss (fermented mare’s milk48 ), wine, mead and rice wine. Genghis had nearly five hundred wives and concubines
and a preoccupation with wine. On his death the homeland was bequeathed to his youngest son, Tolui, while the
former empire of Muhammad II (Kh warizm) was given to Chagatai, all the eastern empire (China) to Ogedai and the
western steppes to the sons of Jochi - Orda and Batu. At that time the Mongol armies were undefeated and the entire
steppe from the Volga to the Amur had been welded into a single, vast, military confederacy. (Ref. 139 ([192]), 211
([284]), 27 ([46]))
The death of Genghis did not by any means signal the end of the Mongol supremacy. The title of Great Khan descended
upon Ogedai and Karakorum was extended so that 500 wagon loads of food were brought in every day. These wagons,
which brought in more than 500,000 bushels of grain each year from China, took 4 months to make the round trip
but such deliveries supplemented the meat and milk products locally available. (Ref. 279 ([191])) Ogedai had gold
fountains in the shape of elephants, tigers and horses and kumiz continually poured from the mouths of each. But like
47 See
map of Marco Polo’s journeys on page 753
was called "cow’s milk whiskey" by later Victorians. (Ref. 211 ([284]))
48 This
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
215
his father, he too was fond of wine and gradually the control of the empire fell more and more into the hands of the
chancellor, the Chinese Yeh-Lu Ch’u-Ts’ai49 , a Cathayan philosopher, astronomer and physician. It was in Ogedai’s
reign that the great Mongol armies made their definitive attack on Russia and Europe, proper, and it was Ogedai ’s
death which necessitated the withdrawal of those forces from Europe, because much political maneuvering had to
done before a new Great Khan could be selected. A camp was established a few miles from the capital where some
4,000 ambassadors and the retinues of all the Mongol lords and princes gathered. Finally Kuyuk, son of Toregene,
was elected Great Khan. He had Nestorian clerks and eventually told the visiting friars - John of Italy and Stephen
of Bohemia - that he preferred the Christian religion. However, the letter he sent back to the pope by these friars
stated just the opposite, to the effect that unless he too (i.e. the pope) came to Karakorum to pay homage, he would
be considered an enemy. These friars had returned as far as Kiev by June, 1247, some ten years before Marco Polo
was born. Although Batu, of the Golden Horde in Russia had sent an ambassador to Karakoram for the khan election,
he was murdered because Kuyuk did not trust him. A new army was sent out, not west, but south to complete the
conquest of Sung China, a project which had been started in Genghis’ time. (Ref. 27 ([46]))
Mangku, son of Tolui (also Tuli), succeeded as supreme khan in 1251 after the alcoholic death of Kuyuk at age 42. By
that time the great Mongol Empire, stretching from the Pacific to Europe, had been pretty well divided into four rather
distinct components. Western and southern Russia was the Khanate of the Golden Horde, while about the Aral Sea
was the Khanate of the White Horde and to their north was the Cheibanid Khanate. The 4th region was China, itself.
To connect the whole empire, however, the Mongols had a communication system they called Yam, similar to the old
American pony express. There were Yam stations 25 miles apart, guarded by detachments of soldiers, stretching clear
across the empire and messengers rode at the rate of 120 miles a day. (Ref. 27 ([46])) An interesting result of the vast
communication network as well as the slower commercial caravans and armies that marched to and fro across those
vast Euro-Asian distances on a northern route, which was much different than the old Silk Road, is that this was the
apparent method of spread of a new disease to the West - bubonic plague. Mongol horsemen had penetrated Yunnan
and Burma in 1252 and 1253 where plague was endemic and they apparently brought the organism back to the steppe
where the wild rodents came in touch with carriers of this new disease and in later centuries that became the real source
of the Pasteurella pestis, which was to repeatedly scourge Europe. (Ref. 140 ([190]))
After the death of the Great Khan Mangku in 1259, succession for the first time was decided by armed conflict. For 4
years Kublai and Arik-Boke fought for the throne, and in the last part of that period Berke, then ruler of the Golden
Horde also fought with Hulegu of Rum and Persia. Berke had convinced his troops that Hulegu had murdered the
commanders of two Golden Horde tumens that had been with Hulegu’s original forces and that the current attack was
traditional revenge. Berke’s forces crossed the Caucasus, led by Nogai. In the eastern conflict Kublai won but was
immediately so completely absorbed in further fighting with the Sung Chinese and the Far East that he could not give
much attention to the west. There was therefore a break-up in Asia and eastern Russia into several khanates, as we
have detailed above. In addition to those previously listed we now add a separate Il-Khan Empire in Persia, proper.
(Ref. 8 ([14])) Kublai and his successors still apparently looked after the old capital at Karakorum, as over 500,000
bushels of grain continued to be brought there from China each year. Tibet remained a part of the empire of the Great
Khan, although retaining its own king. It was in this century that the Tibetan king also became the lama and ruins of
his vast 13th century fortress can still be seen with its cascading wall down a hillside at Shekar Dzong. The Tibetan
lamas had great prestige and privilege under the Mongol rulers and their artisans reached a high point in independent
precious metal work. (Ref. 182 ([250]), 131 ([182]), 19 ([32]))
A diagram showing the genealogy of the Mongol khans will be given on the next page in an attempt to clarify the
rather complicated relationships.
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1301 to 1400 (Section 3.25)
Choose Different Region
1. Intro to Era50
49 Lamb
50 "A.D.
(Ref. 87 ([132])) spelled this name "Ye Liu Chutsai"
1201 to 1300" <http://cnx.org/content/m17723/latest/>
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
216
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
CHAPTER 3. CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Africa (Section 1.27)
America (Section 2.27)
Europe (Section 4.27)
The Far East (Section 6.27)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.27)
The Near East (Section 7.27)
Pacific (Section 8.27)
NOTE: Insert: Genealogy of the Conquering Mongol Khans
NOTE :
Genoese boats were sailing the Caspian Sea in this century. (Ref. 292 ([28]))
3.28 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1301 to 140051
3.28.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1201 to 1300 (Section 3.25)
The old Kipchak area (Turkistan to South Russia) and most of Siberia fell in this century to the last tornado of
nomadism – Timurlane52 . This man, descended in the female line from Genghis Khan, but otherwise chiefly Turkish
in origin, was born south of Samarkand in 1336 and developed into a nomad of the old savage school, creating an
empire of desolation and piles of skulls. As a young man he was made governor of a large area under the Mongol
conqueror, Tughlak Timor Khan and then drove the invaders out of Transoxiana (now Uzbekistan) by the time he was
33 years old. For four decades he rampaged through Asia. With one of the greatest armies ever seen on the- Siberian
steppe, he campaigned against Toktamish of the Golden Horde and soon ruled a vast land south of Moscow. His
warriors wore armor of link mail, carried two bows - one for rapid shooting and one for long distance, as well as 30
arrows, a small shield and a scimitar. Each man had two horses. Timur spoke both Turkic and Persian and surrounded
himself with scholars, historians and poets. He resurrected Samarkand, bringing scientists and philosophers and
building schools and libraries, wide avenues and glittering palaces and mosques. At its height his empire extended
from Turkey to Moscow to Mongolia to Delhi. As the century ended he was temporarily in control of all of Iraq, Persia
and central Asia - the area known as the Timurid Emirate. (Ref. 220 ([294]))
In the meantime, the Chinese Ming armies had gained complete control of Inner Mongolia by 1370 and then they
pushed the Mongols out of Manchuria and Outer Mongolia beyond Karakorum, almost to Lake Baikal and northwest
to Hami, in modern Sinkiang province, opening the gateway to central Asia. In western Asia (and eastern Russia) the
Mongols were not driven out but became assimilated into the numerically superior Turkish-speaking warrior population. Subordination to the Great Khan in Peking ceased to have even ritual significance.
NOTE: Insert Map 42. Asia c1300 and The Empires of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane
It has been mentioned several times in this outline that the Mongol horsemen brought plague-infected rodents or
at least carried the disease organism from India into the Eurasian steppe. In this 14th century the bacillus became
endemic among burrowing rodents in the steppe and the nomad populations became exposed to a lethal infection of a
kind never known before. Radical depopulation and even abandonment of some excellent pasture land was the result.
(Ref. 279 ([191]))
Tibet remained quite isolated, but Chinese influence began to be evident in their paintings, side by side with Indian
characteristics. It was in this century that Tibet evolved the theocracy which persisted into the 20th century, centering
51 This
52 Also
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17827/1.2/>.
known as Timur-i-lend (the Persian for "Timur the Lame), Tamerlane or simply as Timur
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
217
the religious and administrative power in one person, whose succession was assured by the people’s belief in reincarnation. The name "Dalai Lama" was not used, however, until the 16th century. (Ref. 12 ([21]), 19 ([32]), 228
([304]))
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1401 to 1500 (Section 3.25)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era53
Africa (Section 1.28)
America (Section 2.28)
Europe (Section 4.28)
The Far East (Section 6.28)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.28)
The Near East (Section 7.28)
Pacific (Section 8.28)
3.29 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1401 to 150054
3.29.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1301 to 1400 (Section 3.25)
Transoxiana and Samarkand were each ruled by descendants of Timur and they became rival centers of prosperity and
culture equal to any in Europe. Toynbee (Ref. 220 ([294])), writing in the middle 1940s, described that culture along
with that of Turkey as the "Turkish-Iranian Islamic Society", still existing. One cannot help but wonder, in the light of
activities in the 1970s and 80s, if he still would describe these diverse areas as a single culture. Timur had lived just
into this 15th century and was determined to conquer China and had moved north from Samarkand, with a horde of
800,000. Camping at Otrar, some 250 miles north of Samarkand in January of 1401, Timur became ill and died. It was
his son Shah Rukh, whom we have seen took over Persia and a grandson Ulugh Beg, who kept the center land from
India to Iraq, for awhile. Ulugh Beg set up a great observatory and constructed very accurate astronomical tables.
The battle which Timur had had with the remnants of the Golden Horde marked the final age of the Mongol conquests,
but they were already in decline. The appearance of plague in humans across the steppe as a result of the establishment
of the new reservoir for Pasteurella pestis in the area probably was a real factor in undermining Mongol military might,
as their manpower dwindled. There was a decay of urban centers on the steppe, irrespective of external factors, such
as Timur’s destructive frays. Caravan personnel were particularly vulnerable to plague and from this time on new
migrations from the steppe failed to materialize. The opening of the new sea route to the east around Africa was still
another severe blow to the region and a final factor was the isolationist policies of the Ming Dynasty in China, which
tended to dry up the silk route. The Ming even cut off grain supplies to Mongolia, as a means of pressuring the steppe
people, but the Mongol response was to go to war and when the Ming retaliated by trying to invade Mongolia, the
Chinese emperor was captured, in 1449. (Ref. 279 ([191])) Thereafter the Ming reverted to a completely defensive
strategy, withdrawing from Inner Mongolia, so that even the pretense of Chinese military domination of Central Asia
was dropped. (Ref. 149 ([202]), 137 ([188]))
The Cheibanid Khanate, which had existed north of the Aral Sea for some time, collapsed in 1471 and the great
Timurid Emirate finally had to split into the northern Timurid Emirate of Samarkand and the Southern Emirate of
Herat. (Ref. 137 ([188]))
53 "A.D.
54 This
1301 to 1400" <http://cnx.org/content/m17724/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17836/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
218
CHAPTER 3. CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
In Tibet it was at this time that the theory of the reincarnation of the lamas was developed. The people were taught
that when a lama dies his soul passes to a new-born boy and so an extensive search goes on each time, to find the new
Dalai Lama. (Ref. 157 ([213])
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1501 to 1600 (Section 3.25)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era55
Africa (Section 1.29)
America (Section 2.29)
Europe (Section 4.29)
The Far East (Section 6.29)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.29)
The Near East (Section 7.29)
Pacific (Section 8.29)
3.30 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1501 to 160056
3.30.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1401 to 1500 (Section 3.29)
About 1505 the southern, central area of Samarkand, Bukhara and Tashkent (including the area also known as
Khorezm) was invaded from the northwest by Muslim Uzbeks, formerly called "Sarts" and representing a remnant
of the Golden Horde. Khorezm then became known as the Khanate of Khiva, after its capital. Kazan and Astrakhan
were taken from Islam by Ivan IV, the Terrible, in mid-century, chiefly with the use of artillery. (Ref. 260 ([29])) Later
an Uzbek leader, Abdullah, extended his rule over parts of Persia, Afghanistan and even Chinese Turkistan, for a short
period. The little empire then broke up into separate khanates and emirates. (Ref. 38 ([59]), 8 ([14]))
Farther north a revived Mongol power under Altan Khan (1550-73) was giving the Chinese considerable pressure. In
the west, the first advance into Siberia by the Cossack chieftan, Yermak, heralded the Russian eastward migration.
Yermak was backed by a rich merchant family, the Poyarskis, although the only profitable occupation in Siberia at
that time was fur-trapping. That great land area was occupied sparsely by a great number of Turko-Mongolian tribes,
including the Chukchi, Koryaks and Kamchadali of the far northeast; Lamuts, Yakuts, Tungusy and Ostyaks north of
China; and Samoyeds, more Ostyaks and Tartars just east of the Ural Mountains. (Ref. 8 ([14]), 122 ([170])) In the
arctic north of western Siberia around the mouth of the Yenisey River reindeer herders lived chiefly off those animals.
They rode and milked the partially tamed ones and ate the wild ones. (Ref. 288 ([231]))
In Tibet, the name "Dalai Lama" was given to the Tibetan theocrat by a 16th century Mongol ruler and the term has
come to mean "Ocean of Wisdom". (Ref. 228 ([304]))
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1601 to 1700 (Section 3.31)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Intro to Era57
Africa (Section 1.30)
America (Section 2.30)
Europe (Section 4.30)
The Far East (Section 6.30)
55 "A.D.
1401 to 1500" <http://cnx.org/content/m17725/latest/>
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17824/1.2/>.
57 "A.D. 1501 to 1600" <http://cnx.org/content/m17726/latest/>
56 This
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
219
6. The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.30)
7. The Near East (Section 7.30)
8. Pacific (Section 8.30)
3.31 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1601 to 170058
3.31.1 CENTRAL ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1501 to 1600 (Section 3.30)
This great source of the dynamic, nomad hordes, which had periodically flooded both the East and the West, began to
decline in energy. In the far north beyond the Arctic Circle the Evenk reindeer herders lived, particularly in the region
at the mouth of the Yenissei. They rode their animals, sitting far forward on their- shoulders, not on their weak backs.
As early as 1614 they paid heavy taxes of furs to the czars. Farther east, but still within the Arctic Circle, lived the
Yakuts, relative newcomers to the region, apparently having migrated from a southern steppe. They lived in log houses
and used iron, which disseminated from them to the Evenks, although the two people often clashed. (Ref. 288 ([231]))
South of these people in Siberia, fur was the thing tempting Russians deeper and deeper into the area and they reached
the Pacific coast in 1649. Only the western portion of Mongolia (now called "Outer Mongolia") remained independent,
while the southern and eastern part was eventually taken over by China. While the Manchu Ch’ing dynasty was busy
suppressing southern rebels, eastern Mongols known as Tatars and Khalkas stormed northern China in 1675. Although
at first thrown back by the Manchu emperor, next a western Mongol chief, Galdan, invaded Mongolia from Central
Asia. The emperor’s forces launched three campaigns against him, forcing Galdan to commit suicide in 1697, and
allowing Chinese military colonies at Central Asian oases of Hami and Turfan. (Ref. 101 ([146])) The Mongols and
adjacent Calmuchs were converted to the Lamaistic form of Mahayan Buddhism.
Toynbee (Ref. 192 ([261])) says that this represents an astonishing triumph of a fossilized relic of religious life of the
long extinct primary Indic civilization, although the connection here escapes me. The old Uzbek areas northeast of the
Caspian were now called the land of the Kalmuks and Kazakhs. In the old area of Khwarizm, Transoxiana, Ferghana
and Chinese Turkistan there were now independent Turkish, military khanates. (Ref. 8 ([14]))
In Tibet, the Potala - home, office, castle and fortress of the Dalai Lama – stands atop a mountain, rising 700 feet
above the town of Lhasa. Although this was started under construction in the 7th century, most of it was built between
1645 and 1694 when, as indicated in the paragraph above, the Lamaistic form of Buddhism seemed to have a revival.
The Potala is said to have more than 1,000 rooms, 10,000 altars and 200,000 statues. (Ref. 228 ([304])) Late in the
century the Chinese Manchus installed an anti-Mongol Dalai Lama as the ruler of Tibet. (Ref. 101 ([146]))
Forwad to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1701 to 1800 (Section 3.32)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era59
Africa (Section 1.31)
America (Section 2.31)
Europe (Section 4.31)
The Far East (Section 6.31)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.31)
The Near East (Section 7.31)
Pacific (Section 8.31)
58 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17829/1.2/>.
1601 to 1700" <http://cnx.org/content/m17728/latest/>
59 "A.D.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
220
CHAPTER 3. CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
3.32 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1701 to 180060
3.32.1 CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1601 to 1700 (Section 3.31)
The so-called western Mongols (Eleuthes, Kalmuks or Dzungars) gave China a good deal of trouble early in the
century, but finally in 1,735 the Mongols ceded the eastern end of Turkistan to the Ch’ing and then in 1,759 gave all of
Chinese Turkistan, the area called Sinkiang (New Dominion) province. This then, resulted in China ruling all of outer
Mongolia west to Lake Balkhash and then south to the Tarim basin and eastern Turkistan.
Farther south, just east of the Caspian Sea, a thousand miles of desert was fought over by two Moslem khans, one of
Khiva and one of Bokhara. One of Peter I’s Russian armies confronted the former and ended up being treacherously
slain. There was continuous warfare also in the Afghanistan area. The Afghans started a campaign against the Persians
at Kandahar in 1,711, with Mir Vais, a Sunnite Ghilzai chieftain leading them. By 1,722 Mahmud, another Afghan, had
defeated a central Persian army and made himself shah of that land. Somewhat later, however, Nadir Kuli, a powerf
ul chief of the Afshar tribe of Khorosan, defeated the Afghans (and later also the Turks, with Russian help) and then
went on to invade India. After Nadir’s death in 1,747 a general of his, Ahmed Shah, continued to rule Afghanistan,
although by the end of the century he had lost all of Nadir’s Indian territory. Ahmed Shah called his Afghan dynasty
the Durani61 and the people still of ten use that name for themselves. It was in this century that an Indo-European
speaking people, the Pathans, came up from Pakistan, elbowing out the inhabitants from the southern and southeastern
parts of Afghanistan, forcing them off the best lands and thereafter living a half-Afghan half-Indian existence. (Ref.
144 ([197]))
Siberia was being opened up by the Russians at about the same time that America was by the west Europeans. Wild
animals (foxes, hares, beavers, bears, wolves) and innumerable birds (ducks, cranes, swans, pelicans, geese, bitterns,
woodcocks and grouse) occupied the various waterways and swamps. Hunters and merchants were attracted even to
the almost empty Kamchatka peninsula by fur bearing animals. The skins were taken to Irkutsk and thence either to
China or to Moscow and the West. Taxes were collected in the form of precious and marketable furs for the czar. Sea
otter fur became in world-wide demand and ships, built and outfitted at Okhotsk, used large crews to fight off hostile
native Siberians62 as they worked their way even to the Aleutians, catching otters at the mouths of rivers. Expeditions
were supplied for 4 year trips. When Kamchatka was cleared of its beautiful animals, the hunters went on to the
American coast, even to the San Francisco area. (Ref. 260 ([29]))
Early in the century (1717) Tibet had been invaded by the Mongols, but the Chinese emperor sent in armies to drive
them out and Tibet became a political appendage of China by 1720. (Ref. 101 ([146])) A definitive protectorate was
established in 1750. At the end of the century expeditions were sent from southern Tibet into Nepal. (Ref. 175 ([241]),
8 ([14]))
Forward to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1801 to 1900 (Section 3.33)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Intro to Era63
Africa (Section 1.32)
America (Section 2.32)
Europe (Section 4.32)
The Far East (Section 6.32)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.32)
60 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17835/1.2/>.
(Ref. 222 ([296])) says this is the Barkzai Dynasty.
62 These were the Chukchi, who repeatedly defeated the Cossacks and were the last Siberian natives to submit to Russian rule. They were reindeer
and sea hunters, who had adapted remarkably well to the severe Arctic climate. (Ref. 288 ([231]))
63 "A.D. 1701 to 1800" <http://cnx.org/content/m17729/latest/>
61 Trager
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
221
7. The Near East (Section 7.32)
8. Pacific (Section 8.32)
3.33 Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1801 to 190064
3.33.1 CENTRAL ASIA
Back to Central and Northern Asia: A.D. 1701 to 1800 (Section 3.32)
We mentioned above something about the continual increase in Russian migration to Siberia in this century. Gold
resources there were only worked after 1820. Going from west to east, the chief Arctic peoples of Siberia were
Evenks, Yakuts, Yukaghir, Chuvan and Chukchi, the last reaching right to the Bering Strait. The population of that
northern Asian region grew from about 500,000 in 1720 to 1,400,000 in 1811 and then increased again markedly by
the end of the century.
Perhaps the center of greatest interest in Asia, however, was Afghanistan. The Pathans continued to sweep clear across
the country, acting like feudal barons, becoming the dominant ethnic group and occupying virtually every post in
government and administration, although they also became landowners, shopkeepers and peasants. The ruling Durani
line ended in 1826 when Dost Mohammed of the Barakzais Dynasty gained power. Trouble almost immediately
developed as the British attempted to use Afghanistan as a buffer between Russia and British holdings in India. This
resulted in a series of wars in which Indian soldiers fought under their British officers against the Afghans.
In the First Afghan War of 1838 to 1842 the British took Kabul, along with other major cities, but the natives reorganized and soon massacred the British-Indian troops so that only 20 British survivors returned to India. But the British
came back again in the
Second Afghan War of 1878-79, with the eventual ousting of the current Afghan, pro-Russian ruler and the establishment of Abdu-R-Rahuman Khan as a pro-British emir. With the western financial backing he did much to establish
order in that rather unruly country, and he lived until just after the turn of the century, ruling under British supervision.
(Ref. 260 ([29]), 8 ([14]), 144 ([197]), 175 ([241]))
To the north of Afghanistan, East Turkistan had been dominated by China until 1865 when Russian troops invaded
the Khanate of Kokand and took Tashkent. On the east shore of the Caspian Sea, Khiva was an independent khanate
until it too was taken over by Russia in 1873. Kokand, north-east of Khiva, held off the Russians only until 1876. The
territories of the Kazakhs and Kirghiz had been consumed by Russia as early as 185465 (Ref. 8 ([14]))
Most of the people of Tibet were serfs, attached to an estate by birth, although a few were tenant farmers with 95%
of the land owned by 3 groups: Nobles, consisting of less than 200 families; monasteries, with 120,000 monks and
13,000 nuns; and the government, consisting of 333 lamas and 280 lay nobles. In outlying areas there was a nomadic
culture. There was no shifting from one class to another, except that almost any boy could enter a monastery. Thus 3/4
of the Tibetan males labored to support the monastic 1/4. Since the monks were celibate, greatly reducing the number
of potential male parents, polygamy was accepted among those who could afford it. Among the less wealthy, brothers
shared a wife as a method of keeping the family intact. (Ref. 228 ([304]))
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
Intro to Era66
Africa (Section 1.33)
America (Section 2.33)
Europe (Section 4.33)
64 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17831/1.2/>.
Manchuria and Korea came under Russian influence until after war with Japan early in the next century
66 "A.D. 1801 to 1900" <http://cnx.org/content/m17730/latest/>
65 Even
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
222
5.
6.
7.
8.
CHAPTER 3. CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ASIA
The Far East (Section 6.33)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.33)
The Near East (Section 7.33)
Pacific (Section 8.33)
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
Chapter 4
Europe
4.1 Geographical Presentation of Europe1
Back to Introduction to the Method of Geographical Presentation2
The semi-diagrammatic map of Europe below demonstrates that if one eliminates Russia, the land mass involved is
scarcely larger than the NEAR EAST. We should also note that the bulk of Europe lies at a latitude north of both
the Black and the Caspian Seas and that only a small portion of Siberia lies farther north than European Russia. As
indicated on the plate, these two portions of the Soviet Union have traditionally been separated by the Ural Mountain
region. It is easy to see how early mariners from Norway and the British Isles could sail directly west to Iceland and
then on to Greenland and America. Europe will be discussed in the text under several subdivisions which, in later
centuries, will be further divided. These sections will be noted below.
4.1.1 SOUTHERN EUROPE
This division will be discussed with four sub-sections. First will be the eastern Mediterranean islands which modern
authorities are considering as the site of the first truly European societies (in contrast to being a part of the Near East),
These include the Cyclades, Crete, Rhodes, Cyprus and even Malta. The second area will be Greece and the third the
upper Balkans which includes present day Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romani and Albania. Historically other countries
have occupied this region, such as Macedonia, Serbia, Thrace, etc. Lastly the division will have Italy, with some
comments about Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica from time to time.
4.1.2 CENTRAL EUROPE
Arbitrarily this will include five sub-sections - Germany, Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Switzerland. Although
Hungary and Czechoslovakia are now usually considered a part of eastern Europe because of present ideologies, we
have put them in Central Europe because of their long political associations with Austria and Germany.
4.1.3 WESTERN EUROPE
These are the nations along the Atlantic coast, thus Spain, Portugal, France, the Netherlands and Belgium and finally
the British Isles. The latter will be further broken down at times into England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.
1 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17884/1.3/>.
to the Method of Geographical Presentation" <http://cnx.org/content/m17890/latest/>
2 "Introduction
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
223
224
CHAPTER 4. EUROPE
4.1.4 SCANDINAVIA
In addition to the expected sub-sections of Norway, Sweden and Denmark, this division will include Finland. Although
originally genetically different from the true Scandinavian countries, Finland was a part of Sweden for some 600 years
and still has Swedish as one of its two official languages. On occasions there will also be comments about Iceland.
4.1.5 EASTERN EUROPE
This will include the southern Baltic countries such as Poland, Old Prussia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia as well as
European Russia.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
225
Figure 4.1: Europe (This map was obtained from http://english.freemap.jp/index.html3 and is used with permission
under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license4 .)
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
226
CHAPTER 4. EUROPE
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Africa (Section 1.1)
America (Section 2.1)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.1)
The Far East (Section 6.1)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.1)
The Near East (Section 7.1)
Pacific (Section 8.1)
4.2 Europe: Beginning to 8000 B.C.5
4.2.1 EUROPE
We have mentioned earlier that one of the oldest skeletons of homo erectus is one from Swanscombe, England, found
with simple tools made of flint pebbles and associated with elephants’ vertebrae. Continental examples of a somewhat
similar man have been found at Heidelberg and recently not far from Budapest. At the early state of the final glaciation
(Wurm glacier), perhaps 50,000 to 60,000 years ago, there were wedge-shaped stones, axes and spears made in central
Europe. This was the time of Neanderthal man, who apparently has no direct descendants today and who represented
an evolutionary development of primitive man which for some unknown reason came to a dead end and disappeared.
He used pointed scrapers, triangular knife blades, ceremonial burials and heated shelters as well as bone needles.
Europe seemed to be the home of these men, although some have been identified in other areas. The archaeologists
call their culture the "Mousterian" after Mousteir, France, the location of the original finds. Theirs was a reindeerdependent culture, in which men used "kits" of some sixty-three different tools. They were basically cave dwellers,
particularly in Spain and France. At this time there was a land bridge from England to France and the glacier covered
the northern half of the British Isles and all Scandinavia, northern continental Europe and parts of Russia. The Black
Sea, as mentioned earlier, was small and a fresh water lake that at some time was connected to the great sea extending
through the Caspian to the Aral. H.G. Wells (Ref. 229 ([307])) thought that this great sea might have been connected
to the Arctic, but modern thought makes it a northern arm of Tethys. (Ref. 229 ([307]), 100 ([145]))
In the Lower Paleolithic Age back as far as 100,000 years ago there were flake tools of the Clactonian Culture and
later the Acheulian Culture in Britain. There was some occupation in the Upper Paleolithic in perhaps about 12,000
B.C. and this homo sapiens culture which followed the Neanderthal Mousterian, showed an increased tool "kit" with
ninety-three types of chipped stone tools, besides a large group of bone tools. Between 30,000 and 10,000 B.C. most of
central and western Europe was probably uninhabitable because of cold and ice, except in the summer, but the waters
of the Atlantic and its more southern latitude gave southwestern France respite from the cold and thus was a favorite
place for the Paleolithic hunter. Early man here was a killer of game and part-time cannibal. In the "fish gorge" of the
Dordogne region of France there appeared, about 25,000 B.C., short, baited toggles with tines attached,- the first fish
hooks.
About 15,000 years ago huge herds of ruminant animals roamed the plains of central and Western Europe and they
were most useful to early man as sources of meat, clothes, tent fabrics and frames and even as fuel (animal fat).
The mammoth was hunted particularly in southern Russia and Czechoslovakia. Early man was already divided into
subcultures in the Upper Paleolithic level with a Perigordian (Chatelperronian) level appearing as the earliest in western
Europe about 35,000 B.C.; a Gravettian in Czechoslovakia about 27,000 B.C. (extending into southern Russia); and
the Aurignacian culture of the Cro-Magnon man at 32,000 B.C. in Europe proper. The latter may, however, have
originated in the Near East. Strangely marked bones and stones found all over in these periods and extending up to the
Mesolithic period of the post-ice age have recently been interpreted as notational, probably related to tabulation of the
lunar periodicity, and indicating skill and intelligence and sophistication, as we have previously mentioned.
3 http://english.freemap.jp/index.html
4 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
5 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17845/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
227
It was after Neanderthal man, which is after 35,000 years ago, that clothing and ornamentation can be identified. The
best example of the use of beads sewn on clothing comes from Russia, where a skeleton was accompanied by shells
about the head, chest and on the legs, suggesting trousers. On the steppes, where wood was in short supply, many huts
were made from the tusks and bones of mammoth, which also formed the major meat supply in Eastern Europe 25,000
years ago.
Two categories of European art are recognized, a mobile or home art (decorated tools, small carvings, etc.) and then
the fixed works of caves and rock paintings, engravings and sculptures. The earliest art dates to the upper Paleolithic,
between ten and thirty thousand years ago. The most developed art was in the so-called Magdalenian era, with the
famous cave paintings of Spain and France, of which more than a hundred have been found, perhaps representing a
period of over 20,000 years. The pigments used appear to be red and yellow ochre, manganese or carbon for black
and china clay for white. Some of the color may have been mixed with fat and the paint was applied by finger, chewed
sticks or fur for brushes. The high quality of this art, of essentially the same degree of excellence as that of today 6 is
further evidence that man of that day had the same brain and intellectual potential as today.
A short glacial period between 9,000 and 8,000 B.C. reached its peak in less than a century and disappeared rapidly,
but for several hundred years the forests of England, West Germany and the Low Countries had a climate with tundras,
howling winds and drifting snow. By about 8,000 B.C. fishing nets from twisted fibers or thongs had been invented.
Turnips, onions and large radishes date back to prehistoric times. Ireland was probably uninhabited until about 8,000
B.C. The earliest inhabitants of southern Scandinavia entered between 12,000 and 8,000 B.C. following after the
retreating ice, and forming primitive hunting communities. (Ref. 8 ([14]), 226 ([302]), 211 ([284]), 45 ([66]), 130
([180]), 136 ([187]), 88 ([131]))
Forward to Europe: 8000 to 5000 B.C. (Section 4.3)
Choose Different Region
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intro to Era7
Africa (Section 1.2)
America (Section 2.2)
Central and Northern Asia (Section 3.2)
The Far East (Section 6.2)
The Indian Subcontinent (Section 5.2)
The Near East (Section 7.2)
Pacific (Section 8.2)
4.3 Europe: 8000 to 5000 B.C.8
4.3.1 SOUTHERN EUROPE
Crete and the Aegean Islands were sites of agricultural settlements spreading over from Asia Minor between 7,000
and 6,000 B.C. (A little different view is suggested in the next chapter). A mysterious people whose place names
and therefore language was not Greek, spread over the eastern Mediterranean perhaps as early as 6,000 B.C. Linguist
Leonard Palmer believes there is a definite Middle Eastern flavor to the words left behind, and traces them to the
Luvians, a people from the hills of Turkey. "Corinth", "Olympus" and "Knossos" are among those names that are
not Greek. The oldest houses below Knossos on Crete, in a neolithic layer dated at 6,000 B.C., were made of mud
bricks hardened in fire, a mid-eastern technique never seen later on the island. The first settlers of Crete, whoever they
were, found a heavily forested land with vast stands of cypress, oak, chestnut and pine, unlike modern, denuded Crete.
Cyprus had a Neolithic population by the 4th millennium B.C. (Ref. 109 ([155]), 215 ([290]), 88 ([131]), 41 ([62]))
6 This
is Arnold Toynbee’s opinion. (Ref. 220 ([294]))
to 8000 B.C." <http://cnx.org/content/m17804/latest/>
8 This content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17860/1.2/>.
7 "Beginning
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
228
CHAPTER 4. EUROPE
The central mountains of Greece are a series of limestone ridges running southeast into the Aegean Sea where peaks
form a series of islands. The cultivable valleys on the coast are more accessible from the sea than from each other
or the rest of Europe. Therefore the east coast of Greece participated in the agricultural settlement of the Aegean via
the sea from the east. Domesticated sheep were in Greece by 7,200 B.C. The Balkans had agricultural settlements
and painted and impressed-ware cultures from 6,000 to 5,000 B.C. spreading up from Greece. The economy was
based on sheep, wheat and legumes. Karanovo, Bulgaria, is an example, with mound settlement debris forty feet high.
Similar culture spread all along the coasts of the Adriatic, Sicily and southern France. Excavations in the Maritsa
Valley (Valley of the Roses) in central Bulgaria indicate plastered mud-houses over wood framework present by 6,000
B.C. Each generation of people, however, would demolish their old house and build a new one on the site, so that after
several thousand years, some of the resulting mounds rose as high as fifty feet. These people at 6,000 B.C. had ovens
to bake bread, graphite decorated pottery and by 5,000 B.C. had early smelting and casting of copper, perhaps entirely
independently of similar developments in the Near East. Lepenski Vir, on the right bank of the Danube in present day
Yugoslavia, was an ancient city site dating before 5,000 B.C. It is characteristic of the work of hunters and fishermen
of a pure Old Stone Age tradition before houses took on a permanent form.
Genetic studies of European peoples have indicated that farming advanced from the Middle East into Europe, starting
at about 7,000 B.C. with a radial rate of advance of about one kilometer a year, and this advance occurred by diffusion
of the farmers themselves (demic diffusion) rather than by the simple spread of technology from one population to
another (cultural diffusion). This is evidenced by the fanning out of certain alleles in gene frequencies, spreading in
Europe from southeast to northwest and also from the Near East to North Africa, Arabia and East Africa - and from
Southwest Asia to the Indus Valley.
Archeological evidence is also plentiful on the European continent, but not so in the other areas. Sardinia and northern
Algeria are more nearly similar to the Near East than the rest of the Central Mediterranean, and Sardinia has very low
Rh negative frequency and other frequencies that are most unusual. The archeology there shows first that the earliest
occupation was Neolithic - with no Paleolithic antecedent and secondly that there was substantial colonization by both
Phoenicians and Carthaginians. The first farmers, however, probably came from southern Italy. The island Melos, in
the Aegean, has a distinctive variety of obsidian, and there is evidence that Greek and Cretan sailors exploited it and
brought it to their own countries as early as 6,000 B.C. (Ref. 222 ([296]), 215 ([290]), 136 ([187]), 211 ([284]), 170
([234]), 176 ([242]), 143 ([196])) Additional Notes (p. 229)
4.3.2 CENTRAL EUROPE
The majority of middle Europeans passed into the Mesolithic Age in this period. There were no longer large animals
to hunt, perhaps only deer, and man augmented his diet with nuts and berries. The dog was present in the human
encampments and boats were used. Farming, which appeared in the Danube basin about 6,000 B.C. spread to the
North European plain about 5,000 B.C. They used wooden saws fitted with chipped flint teeth. Neolithic pottery
called "Bandkeramik", which was characterized by incised parallel lines above the neck, appeared in areas of south
and north central Europe and accompanied the gene gradient which we described above. Such farmer migrations
involved more people and have a better potential for increase in population than "barbarian" invasions which have
only limited numbers and not enough people to effect gene frequencies striking1y. This farming and the associated
pottery spread rapidly along the main river valleys, especially the Danube and the Rhine, at the end of this period about
5,000 B.C. Although much controversy still exists, there is much evidence to suggest that the Indo-European speaking
people were actually a single group or people at this time, living in the Danube Valley. We shall examine some other
ideas about this later. (Ref. 136 ([187]), 215 ([290]), 143 ([196]))
Swiss lake dwellers with domesticated dogs and plow oxen collected or grew flax for use in making fish lines and
nets and general utility ropes by about 6,000 B.C. They also made a bread from crushed grain and had true pottery.
(Continue on page 50)
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
229
4.3.3 WESTERN EUROPE
Central France and most of Spain had Mesolithic cultures while southern Spain had coastal agricultural settlements
that were extensions of Adriatic and southern France cultures. The very southern part of England was not covered by
the last glacier, and recent discoveries and dating techniques suggest a very early inhabitation of that area. Dogs were
domesticated by tribes in the British Isles by 7,300 B.C. Churchill (Ref. 29 ([50])) says that at 7,000 B.C. there was
still no English channel and Britain was a promontory of Europe. There was land in what is today the North Sea, also,
and men lived there at 6,000 B.C. when there was continuous tundra from Jutland across to Eng1and. These men of
the north were reindeer hunters, coming up from central Europe. As the glaciers retreated the animals depending on
snow water had to have salt. Where human beings accumulated, the reindeers would accept human urine as a source of
salt and so semi-domestication became possible, although these animals never became subject to true domestication.
Britain may have become separate from the continent by about 5,900 B.C. In Ireland wattle huts date back as far as
7,000 B.C. along the coastal routes and inland waterways. Most of the Irish, particularly in the north and west have
blood type O, pointing to a strong pre-Celtic physical inheritance which is believed to have come via the Atlantic
from the Mediterranean area. Hunter-gathers of Western Europe and probably the British Isles have close to 100%
Rh negative genes, with later positive genes arriving from the east and southeast of Europe. (Ref. 143 ([196]), 215
([290]), 117 ([164]), 29 ([50])) (Continue on page 51)
4.3.4 SCANDINAVIA
Even at 8,000 B.C. the last glacier had retreated sufficiently to leave all of Denmark and southern Sweden free of ice
and there were men living there, eating oysters, fish and seal meat. Denmark and all islands guarding the approaches
to the Baltic were settled by Lapps and Finns. These people were probably of European origin although both spoke a
related Finno-Ugric tongue, originating in the Urals far to the east. Denmark was then one continuous stretch of land,
not multiple islands and peninsulas as today, and there was one large water channel across Sweden via the great lakes
to the Kattegat. The Baltic Sea and the Sound may not have existed as such. A Neolithic rather than a Mesolithic
culture existed in this portion of the world. (Continue on page 53)
4.3.5 EASTERN EUROPE
There were good supplies of flint in eastern Poland, and the miles of rivers, lakes and timber afforded resources for
early man. The great water system including the Black and Caspian Seas along with the Ural Mountains acted as
a barrier between the Asiatic peoples and the Indo-Europeans. Some would locate the origin of the Indo-European
speaking peoples at this time just north of the Black Sea, and certainly there were sparsely scattered people throughout
all of northern European Russia up to the edge of the retreating glacier. McEvedy (Ref. 136 ([187])) calls all of these
northern Stone Age people "Finns", but most would probably prefer the term "Arctic peoples" or "Lapps". Certain
scholars include the forefathers of present day Lapps among the Paleo-arctic groups, while others maintain that they
are Alpine and came from central Europe and were pushed north. They do not all belong to a single physical type and
do not belong to a single blood group. Their Finno-Ugric language is close to Finnish but the two are not mutually
intelligible and there are three mutually unintelligible Lappish dialects. Today practically all Lapps are bilingual. (Ref.
229 ([307]), 61 ([90]), 88 ([131])) (Continue on page 53)
NOTE : In Italy near Foppe de Nadro there are many rock art figures, including a scene depicting a praying
human figure surrounded by dogs. This was supposedly created by the "Dog Cult" people about 5000 B.C.
(Ref. 299 ([5]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
230
CHAPTER 4. EUROPE
4.4 Europe: 5000 to 3000 B.C.9
4.4.1 EUROPE
It was warmer in Europe after about 5,000 B.C. than at any time before or since. (Ref. 91 ([135])) The origin of the
original Indo-European language speakers remains an unsolved mystery, with some claiming these people started on
the Baltic shores, others in the Balkan portion of the Danube and still others in the steppes of southern Russia and on
north of the Caspian Sea. The date of origin also remains undecided with some believing it dates back to between
6,000 and 5,000 B.C. and others, particularly some linguists, to a much later date. We shall begin our discussion of
these ideas in the next chapter.
4.4.1.1 SOUTHERN EUROPE
A race of dark whites, perhaps akin to the Iberians of Spain and the Georgians of the Caucasus, developed an island
civilization as early as 4,000 B.C. centered on Crete, but apparently with colonies on Cyprus, Greece, Asia Minor,
Sicily and southern Italy as important parts of the whole. Their language is uncertain and their early writing has not
yet been deciphered, but they had early trade and contacts with Egypt and may very well have even preceded the
classical known civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia. Reed boats and reed boat illustrations on pottery have been
found throughout the Mediterranean from Mesopotamia, Egypt, the coast of Syria, Lebanon, Cyprus, Crete, Corfu,
Malta, Italy, Sardinia, Libya, Algeria and out through the Straits of Gibralter. As mentioned in a previous chapter,
recent carbon dating corrections indicate the possible presence of advance civilizations on some of these islands prior
to the more classical ones on the continents. The old Roman belief that Lixus, on the Atlantic coast was the oldest city
in the world, supports the possible hypothesis that civilization moved eastward toward Egypt and not the reverse.
An interesting side-light is the recent newspaper report from Russia, detailing the findings of ancient, buried human
buildings and walls of a city far below the ocean surface about one-half way between Portugal and the Madeira islands.
Again the question of the "Lost continent of Atlantis" is mentioned, but it is perhaps of some moment that the area
described and allegedly photographed under water is almost directly out to sea from Lixus. We do know now that
the spiral decorations of buildings on Malta date before 3,000 B.C. and that copper was mined on Cyprus probably as
early as 4,000 to 3,000 B.C. (Ref . 95,178,224,18)
Just before the close of the period under review, a civilization called the "Cycladic" existed all along the shores of the
Mediterranean Sea and seems to have been the highest culture of the times. Inland at about the same time the ancient
Helladic or Mycenaean civilization began to develop on the northern plains of Greece. Professor Ivan Benedikov,
Bulgarian archaeologist (Ref. 171), says that there is evidence of an ancient Thracian, Indo-European culture in the
area of Bulgaria and that they produced gold ornaments, figurines and pottery. This is reinforced by the beliefs of
Professor Colin Renfrew (Ref. 179 ([244])) who feels that the fantastic gold ornaments, some weighing thirteen
pounds, found at Verna, Bulgaria on the Black Sea, represent the oldest gold-working known, antedating anything of
this type in the Near East. Copper tools were made in Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria as early as 4,500 B.C. This
dating has been confirmed by the British Museum. (Ref. 164 ([223]))
Now some very interesting theoretical propositions must be discussed with relation to the population of ancient Greece.
Were the indigenous people known to inhabit the peninsula after 6,000 B.C. the same who later became known as the
Mycenaeans, or were the latter invading conquerors who overcame the originals? If the former is true, then, since
the Mycenaeans spoke an early Greek language, there must have been Indo-European speakers in the area by 6,000
B.C. But some linguists say this cannot be. Another alternative is the idea championed by Professor Marija Gimbutas,
that Kurgans from the lower Volga steppes migrated by land and sea (Vikings of the 4th millennium B.C.)10 to all the
Balkans and the Greek peninsula about 2,300 B.C. and became the Achaeans11 . (Ref. 171, 179 ([244]), 88 ([131]),
215 ([290]))
9 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17859/1.2/>.
215, page 268
11 "Achaeans" is often used interchangeably with "Mycenaeans"
10 Ref.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
231
4.4.1.2 CENTRAL EUROPE
The Danubian I Neolithic Culture which spread from the Near East, now reached well up into Germany, and this is
usually described as an Indo-European culture. Village-based agriculture was present in Hungary by 5,000 B.C. In
Switzerland the lake dwellers, with houses on stilts, built either in the lakes or on adjacent marshy ground as early as
5,000 B.C. The extreme north of central Europe, however, was still subarctic, with only hunting tribes following the
herds. New peoples introduced mixed farming in central Europe about 4,400 B.C. These Neolithic peoples lived in
villages consisting of six to thirteen wooden longhouses averaging about 325 feet long, and they used the so-called
Linear pottery. They grew wheat by a slash and burn method and kept cattle, sheep and pigs. This is the culture which
spread into northern France and Belgium.
4.4.1.3 WESTERN EUROPE
Impressed-ware pottery people lived all along the coast of the western Mediterranean by 6,000 B.C. The island of
Mallorca in the Balearics, about 125 miles from the eastern coast of Spain, was definitely inhabited by man in the 5th
millennium B.C., co-existing with ruminant artiodactyl mammals. There were Bowl Culture agricultural settlements in
France, northern Spain and England in the 4th millennium and these people were probably distinct from the Windmill
Hill groups which we shall identify later, and of the old Iberian or Western Mediterranean race, which may have spread
by boat up the Atlantic coast. Small boats were definitely in use for coastal transport by 5,000 B.C. In Belgium a flint
mine of about 4,300 B.C. has been discovered which required the miners to go through about thirty feet of unstable
gravel and sand to reach the flint. The tunnels were shored inside and at the bottom the mine fanned out into a web
of galleries. The farmers of Belgium and northern France of this era came from Germany between 4,000 and 3,000
B.C. and built large farm houses and used Linear pottery of the tradition of central Europe. In contrast, the people of
France, using Chassey pottery after 3,500 B.C. developed a separate Neolithic farming group.
The earliest flint mine of Britain was in Sussex and has been dated to about 4,300 B.C. The area of the Salisbury plain
in southwestern England was inhabited by the Windmill Hill people by about 4,000 B.C., coming from the continent.
They were a farming people with cattle, goats, pigs, sheep, dogs and wheat, who added fish and shell fish to their
diet. They built at least seventeen known enclosures (and probably actually many more) in this area of England with
the largest of these on top of Windmill Hill about one and one-half miles northwest of Avebury, and thus the origin
of their archeological name. This particular causeway enclosure was built about 3,250 B.C. and originally consisted
of three concentric circles, the largest being 1,200 feet in diameter, covering twenty-one acres. Some 1,300 pottery
vessels have been recovered from this spot, and it is thought to have been more or less continuously used for over one
thousand years. This, and the other similar constructions were probably used for ritual or ceremonial centers rather
than for habitation. When these Windmill Hill people arrived in England, about 4,000 B.C., it was the end of the
Mesolithic Age in Britain, and there were certainly other people already there living as semi-nomads, making flint and
stone tools for cutting and shaping timber, red-deer antlers and skins. Most of southern England was heavily forested,
but Wessex, with chalk and limestone, had lighter vegetation and was attractive to the immigrating stock breeders and
agriculturalists. Some feel that cattle may have been shipped to England from the continent as early as 5,000 B.C.
The circular enclosures were not the only mysterious constructions of the Salisbury plains in those early times. The
4th millennium B.C. was the period of the "long barrows" of which there are some 260 in Britain with 148 of them
in the Wiltshire country area. The best known of these is the West Kennet Long Barrow, located some one-half mile
south of Avebury. Constructed at about 3,600 B.C. it is three hundred forty feet long and seventy-five feet wide at its
widest eastern end and eight feet high. It was originally surrounded by a curb of stones. The eastern one-eighth of
the barrow is a stone tomb with five carefully made chambers in which forty-five skeletons have been found. At the
entrance are many upright stones, lined up at right angles to the axis of the mound. No function has been yet identified
for the western seven-eighths of the barrow.
The first Neolithic Age sites of Ireland are found in County Tyrone, dating from about 3,700 B.C. onwards. The
Sandhills Ware Pottery people there exploited the salmon from the Boyne River and by 3,250 lived in rectangular,
timber houses. The forests were cleared and cereals, oxen, sheep, goats and pigs were raised, perhaps after the
addition of the immigrants related to the Windmill Hill people mentioned above.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
232
CHAPTER 4. EUROPE
Next we must discuss the mysterious and problematical megaliths which have been found all over the Mediterranean
islands, along the coasts of the Iberian peninsula, France, Britain and southern Scandinavia. Traditionally it has been
taught that the 2,500 B.C. period was the one of this megalithic culture, but recent correction of carbon dating by
bristle-cone pine correlation has put the Atlantic megaliths back another 800 years to before 3,000 B.C. One theory is
that this culture was based on a religion spread by priests and merchants (perhaps from Malta?), but as we shall see
when we discuss some of these remaining monuments in the next chapter, their function, at least in some, appears to
have been far greater than any simple ritual. It has been estimated that there are at least 50,000 of these megaliths in
Western Europe and countless numbers of others must have been destroyed through the ages. Recently there has been
speculation that the original megalith builders may have spread from Britain southward, rather than the reverse.
These immigrants also settled in Ireland and western mainland coastal areas, but avoided the Midlands. In this period
of global optimal climate, there were prehistoric farms in Scotland and Northern England in latitude elevations where
today no agriculture is feasible. At about 3,000 B.C. this Eden terminated with a sharp return of colder weather (Ref.
227 ([303]), 176 ([242]), 136 ([187]), 215 ([290]), 176 ([242]), 45 ([66]), 224 ([299]), 88 ([131]), 7 ([12]))
4.4.1.4 SCANDINAVIA
At 5,900 B.C. there were stupendous geological changes still occurring in the north. Men had lived in the area now
covered by the North Sea but as the glaciers melted and receded, the earth’s crust, previously dented by the weight
of the ice, began to rise and it is still rising throughout most of Sweden today. South of this, the waters poured into
the North Sea and over much of Denmark, so that the main part of this land remained attached to Europe only by a
thin stalk at Holstein and the Danish tribes became isolated and remained virtually so for some centuries. The Danes
knew how to sail and canoe and had flint tools and weapons. All southern Scandinavia and the Baltic settlements of
this era had the Funnel Rim pottery. Rock scribings of petroglyphs hewn into or occasionally painted on rock faces
representing animals have been found all over the Scandinavian peninsula, as well as in Finland and Russia, dating
back to at least 5,000 B.C. Most of these are life-size and are outline drawings in naturalistic style, although another
type with stylized animals has been found at Vengen and Ausevik, Norway and Namforsen in Sweden. Just after 4,000
B.C. (some say earlier) contact with Europe proper increased with the result that new people growing barley and wheat
and raising herds of cattle, sheep and pigs migrated into the Scandinavian area. (Were these the same as the Windmill
Hill people in England?). Like other areas in Western Europe, this was also the era of megalithic tombs, of which
some thousands still stand in southern Scandinavia. Due to the very warm climate which developed after 5,000 B.C.,
vines grew in southern Norway and the whole of Scandinavia had mixed and deciduous forests. (Ref. 8 ([14]), 88
([131]))
4.4.1.5 EASTERN EUROPE
There is archeological evidence of human habitation on the southern plains of Russia dating far back into prehistoric
times, and nomadic peoples roamed the country throughout the centuries of this chapter. Of particular interest are the
Kurgans, known to live on the lower Volga even in 5,000 B.C. (See also SOUTHERN EUROPE, this chapter). They
had horses, loved to fight and buried their dead under tumuli. They may later have migrated to Greece to become the
Mycenaeans. Marija Gimbutas of U.C.L.A. thinks these people are the original Indo-Europeans and that about 4,000
B.C. they expanded into the Danube basin and down into the Balkan peninsula from there. Most archeologists would
deny that they are the original Indo-Europeans but do agree that at sometime, probably 3,500 to 3,000 B.C., these
people did over-run much of Europe, using wheeled carts and bronze weapons.
Wild grapes were brought under cultivation in the Caucasus in the 4th millennium B.C. The Finns (or Lapps?) were
endemic in northern Russia and occupied all northern climes outside the area of Neolithic Culture. The Linear Pottery
Culture spread from Hungary around the northern edge of the Carpathians into Russia in the mid-5th millennium and
agriculture spread through the Volga-Don region from the Danube by about 4,500 B.C. Central, east Europe was in the
late copper age after 3,500 B.C., as the Carpathians supplied plenty of copper and later gold and tin. (Ref. 45 ([66]),
8 ([14]), 215 ([290]), 211 ([284]), 88 ([131]), 222 ([296]))
Forward to Europe: 3000 to 1500 B.C. (Section 4.5)
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
233
4.5 Europe: 3000 to 1500 B.C.12
4.5.1 SOUTHERN EUROPE
Back to Europe: 5000 to 3000 B.C. (Section 4.4)
4.5.1.1 EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN ISLANDS
The British Museum has displays indicating the original civilization in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean should
be called the "Cycladian", existing from 3,000 to 2,000 B.C. and to be considered separate from the Cretan or Minoan
Civilization which followed13 . Although, as noted in the last chapter, people with an advanced Neolithic Culture lived
on Crete from 6,000 B.C. onward, the Bronze Age started only about 2,600 B.C.
There are some who believe that the Egyptian and Anatolian influences stimulated the development, but most now
feel that this was a purely local progress over a thousand year period. For the first 600 years or so of this Bronze
Age, civilization was rather low key, and it appears that there may have been folks of several different origins on
the island. Homer was probably truthful when he described three peoples - the Eteocretans, the Kydonians and the
Pelasgians. The first of these may be considered the initial truly Cretan people, perhaps of Luvian origin and speaking
the as yet undeciphered Linear A language. The Bulgarian linguist, Vladimer Georgiev, claiming decipherment of
the Phaestos Disc found on Crete in 1910, believes that that represented a Luvian language which was dominant on
the island around 1,700 B.C. and that the Eteocretans and Pelasgians had similar languages. The Kydonians lived in
western Crete, language unknown, but they were definitely not Greek in origin. The Pelasgians were an Aegean people
who originally may have inhabited all of the Aegean, Thrace and the Greek mainland. Their language was mid-way
between Thracian and Hittite-Luvian. Obviously Minoa was a multi-lingual civilization.
The first palaces and cities of Crete appeared about 2,000 B.C., including Knossus, Phaistos, Mallia and Zakros. The
first had about 80,000 people14 and the vast palace for the king called "Minos", which was located there, was the largest
and most elaborate of all. It had exquisite potteries and tiles, bath rooms with running water, toilets with drainage
systems and evidences of rich appointments and jewelery. The construction of such palaces and its accouterments
required any number of specialized craftsmen - architects, stone masons, carpenters, plasterers, painters, potters,
sculptors, gem-cutters, glass makers, faience makers, smiths, weavers and probably others.
The five hundred years following 2,000 B.C. saw the ships of the Minoans roaming unchallenged on the Aegean Sea.
The Cretan navy apparently cleared the seas of pirates and protected the homeland from invasion so that there was no
necessity for any kind of fortification on the island. The commercial fleet was involved in extensive commerce with
surrounding islands, the Near East and Egypt. The latter supplied scarab seals, carved ivories, copper and tin15 and
Egyptian linen, while receiving olive oil, painted pottery, timber and woolen cloth. The Cretans are said to have had
100,000 sheep. An alabaster jar bearing the name of the Hyksos King Khyan has been found and confirms probable
delegations and trade with Egypt. Perhaps from over-population, the Minoans sent colonists to various other islands
and the mainland of Greece. The island Thera was an important Minoan satellite and a colony on the island of Kythera,
between the western end of Crete and the Peloponnese, was started before 2,000 B.C. and was still occupied at 1,450
B.C. Cretan fashions spread throughout the islands and even to Greece and Asia Minor.
Recent excavations near Arkhanes, south of Knossos, have revealed a temple for the dead, dating to 1,800 B.C. with
a noble woman burial which included such things as a gold signet ring with a cult scene confirming that Minoans,
like other peoples of that time, had the ancient belief in the dying and resurrected god. There is evidence of animal
sacrifice and apparently in times of great stress, as in the earthquake period about to be described, they even used
12 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17858/1.2/>.
Frank Stubbings (Ref. 215 ([290]), page 114) believes that the Cycladic and Minoan originated at about the same time (2,800 B.C.) and
existed side by side, along with the Mycenaean on the Greek mainland
14 Cotterell (Ref. 41 ([62])) says no less than 20,000 between the years 2,000 to 1,700 B.C.
15 Cotterell (Ibid) reports that there was adequate copper available locally and that tin was imported from Bulgaria and Romania
13 Dr.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
234
CHAPTER 4. EUROPE
human sacrifices. (Ref. 18 ([31]), 136 ([187]), 129 ([179]), 215 ([290]), 109 ([155]), 186 ([254]), 211 ([284]), 213
([288]), 188 ([257]))
About 1,700 B.C. violent earthquakes demolished the old palaces, but they were all rebuilt, for the most part on entirely
new plans. During this rebuilding, Minoan civilization acquired its definitive character and the buildings developed
their unique charm, elegance and grace. In the period of the new palaces, the population of Crete has been estimated
at 256,000 with 50,000 under the direct rule of Knossos. The palaces had great store rooms and work shops and the
earliest writing had to do with accounting for wheat, oil, barley, olives, figs, livestock, wine and honey. Horses are
not documented on the island before the 15th century B.C. when the technique of using heat to bend wood for spoked
wheels became available. The overall society was a stratified theocracy with the priest-king at Knossos supreme and
lesser priest-kings in the other palaces. The latter, in turn, were surrounded by their nobles and their women and
beneath them was the peasantry, still living essentially in a Stone Age economy. In contrast to most other ancient
civilizations there were no slaves. Among the upper classes both sexes wore jewelry and participated in art, dancing,
music and when young and supple, in the famous bull acrobatics. The meaning of the latter is still not clear.
A little north of Crete in the Aegean Sea is the peculiarly shaped island variously known as Thera or Sartorini. This
is the remnant of a great volcano which had its first traceable eruption about 1,500 B.C. burying the island in ash and
pumice. In 1967 Professor Marinatos discovered the tephra-preserved (covered with volcanic dust) town of Akrotiri
on that island. In effect this Cretan extension was a Bronze Age "Pompeii" complete with terra cotta plumbing and
town-house architecture. For fifty years or so after that first eruption Thera remained quiet, but we shall hear more of
it in the next chapter. (Ref. 109 ([155])) Additional Notes (p. 238)
4.5.1.2 GREECE
If one accepts the theory that the Kurgans of south Russia migrated to Greece to become the Mycenaeans, the date
of 2,300 B.C. is probably appropriate. Some believe there were two waves of these Kurgans, with the second wave
coming just before 1,600 B.C. These were a hard-riding warrior class who dominated their earlier brothers to become
a small, powerful, rich, ruling class. The original inhabitants of both mainland Greece and the adjacent Aegean islands
were perhaps related to the Cretans in speech and race, but the development of civilization on the mainland had been
arrested by massive invasions at the end of the 3rd millennium by barbarous peoples from Anatolia, and a century or so
later by invaders from the north. The latter may have been the Kurgans, the first "Greeks", although some authorities
believe that the Greek-speakers arrived much later. Like the Minoans, the Bronze Age Greeks16 had passed through
centuries of humble living in small villages, obviously poor and with limited trade, chiefly with Crete. Of the various
tribes, the men of Mycenaea soon dominated by virtue of chariot warfare and by 1,600 B.C. there was an advanced
style of life, centered in that community, but with influences extending to Crete and influenced by Crete, with ships
of both vying for control of the Mediterranean. Pei (Ref. 168 ([229])) says that the classical Greek language was
well differentiated by that time. The sail had been used after about 2,000 and this had allowed for better fishing and
increased maritime trade. With domestication of the grape and olive, new industries appeared and thrived. Magnificent
tombs, with masses of gold art objects are dated to the 16th century B.C. (Ref. 215 ([290]), 8 ([14]), 168 ([229]), 41
([62]))
4.5.1.3 UPPER BALKANS
Excavations at Maliq, Albania, have proved that people lived there in 2,800 B.C., perhaps before the arrival of the IndoEuropeans, and they may have maintained some relations with Mycenaea. In the third millennium B.C. and for awhile
after 2,000 B.C. most of the Balkans was occupied by the Tumulus, Battle Axe and Corded Ware peoples (Please
see B. CENTRAL EUROPE, this chapter) who may have descended from the copper and goldsmiths described in the
previous chapter. In the early second millennium, however, the area was crisscrossed with migrating tribes, particularly
the Greek peoples, described immediately above. The Illyrians, settling in Yugoslavia, were an Indo-European group
related to the pre-Celts who were located just to the northwest in the present areas of Hungary and Austria. With the
16 The
terms "Mycenaeans" and "Achaeans" both simply mean "Bronze Age Greeks"
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
235
development of agriculture in the sandy, glacial soil of northern Europe at the end of this time-frame, the Balkans
became something of a backwater. (Ref. 8 ([14]), 178 ([245]))
4.5.1.4 ITALY
The basic people of ancient Italy were the Western Iberians of the original Mediterranean race, and they were essentially the sole inhabitants of all Italy, Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica except for some coastal settlements by the eastern
Mediterranean people, until about 2,000 B.C. when invaders descended from the north. The latter were the Italics, part
of the western branch of early Indo-European speakers, related to the "Ligurian Celts". They built homes on foundations of piles (Terramara) and their descendants became the basic stock of present day Italy. By 1,850 B.C. these
people had occupied all of Italy except the northwestern one-quarter which was occupied by Etruscans, who McEvedy
(Ref. 136 ([187])) insists, were remnants of the Western Iberians. Ancient peoples also remained on Sicily and the
western islands, although by 1,600 B.C. so-called "Celto Ligurians" from southern France had occupied Corsica and
Sardinia. (Ref. 136 ([187]))
4.5.2 CENTRAL EUROPE
By 3,000 B.C. all Europe but northern Scandinavia had farming communities. Indo-European speaking groups lived
throughout central Europe from the beginning of this period’s various modifications of the basic language. Professor
Jan Filip (Ref. 194 ([266])), patriarch of Celtic history of Charles University, Prague, described a "Corded Ware"
or "Battle Axe" people representing the first Indo-European speakers of this area, living there about 2,300 B.C. as
the precursors of the Celts, and dominating the earlier Neolithic Cultures of northern central and western Europe.
The Austrian Salzkammergut was settled about 2,500 B.C. with the inhabitants getting salt from salt wells. (Ref. 91
([135])) As a general westward migration occurred the area became dominated about 1,850 B.C. by the Bell-beaker
Culture, named from the bell shaped cups found in their graves. The origin of this pottery society has been much
disputed, some claiming it started in Spain and spread east to Germany, and some the reverse, but if it was, indeed, a
culture endemic with the early Indo-Europeans, then the expansion must have been westward from the original IndoEuropean zone. The Aunjetitz Culture, a variation of the Bell-beaker, flowered in southwestern Germany and Austria
from the 18th to the 16th centuries B.C. Excavations in the latter country have revealed bronze needles, arm spirals,
daggers and ceramics with intricate detail. As agriculture spread, sometimes as seeds were moved to new climes they
would scarcely grow and weeds would take over the fields. On some of these occasions, however, it was discovered
that the weeds themselves could be used and cultivated instead. In this manner rye and oats developed in northern
Europe. (Ref. 45 ([66]), 136 ([187]), 194 ([266]), 211 ([284]), 91 ([135]))
4.5.3 WESTERN EUROPE
There was a late Copper Age in Spain with techniques coming across southern Europe from the Caucasus, after
3,000 B.C. A source of tin was found in northwest Spain so that the area could readily participate in the bronze
industries between 2,500 and 1,500 B.C. Some of the metal-using communities, such as those in southern Spain and
Portugal about 2,500 had to be fortified and some had two high walls with outlying fortresses to give warning of attack.
Defenders fought with bow and arrows. (Ref. 175 ([241]))
In the last chapter we discussed the 4th millennium inhabitants of England, the Windmill Hill people. It was probably
these who, at the beginning of the 3rd millennium, started to build a series of remarkable stone monuments in southern
England. The best known and most thoroughly investigated, written about, photographed, painted and romanticized
of these, is Stonehenge. The original structure, Stonehenge 1, dates to not later than 2,900 when there were already
some 180 separate habitation centers in Wessex. At Stonehenge, first of all there was dug a circular ditch some 1,050
feet in circumference, 4 1/2 to 6 feet deep and 12 feet wide. The purpose of this was to supply the chalk soil for a bank
which was thus built up along the inner side of the ditch. It has been estimated that this alone required about 28,000
man-hours of work, using red-deer antlers for picks and whatever for shovels. The bank measures 320 feet in diameter
and was at least 6 feet high, although some say 20 feet, with a causeway entrance on the northeast. Only a few stones
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
236
CHAPTER 4. EUROPE
were used in Stage I, a couple at the causeway entrance and perhaps the four Station Stones, but a mysterious feature
was a group of 53 post holes also in the causeway entrance.
Most modern scholars are convinced that these were used for precise and constant observation of the extreme northerly
risings of the moon for a hundred years or more. It requires nineteen years for the moon to exactly repeat its course
in relation to the earth and sun, so that predictions of moon positions, possible eclipses, etc. require long periods of
observation. The average diameter of the post holes is 3 feet 6 inches, with a depth of 2 1/2 feet.
There is no evidence that they ever held stones or wooden posts. Some have yielded cremation remains, flakes of flint,
cups, etc. all adding to the mystery. Professor Fred Hoyle (Ref. 99 ([144])) believes that this was not built by local
people, but by some who came especially to place the circle at the exact spot needed for some astronomical reasons.
After Phase I of Stonehenge was completed (but before Phase II) another enormous, strange construction appeared
about one-half mile north of Stonehenge. This is a narrow horse-shoe shaped earthworks with each leg running for one
and three-quarters miles, and which is called the "Cursus", because some have felt it represents a Neolithic race-track.
There is some evidence that the bluestones which we shall see were used in Stonehenge II had earlier either been used
for some purpose or stock-piled at the western end of this Cursus. There are about twenty similar constructions in
Britain and this one is the second longest and it may even pre-date Stonehenge I. The longest Cursus is at Dorset and
measures 6.2 miles in length. (Ref. 7 ([12])) There are none of these constructions outside Britain.
Before the next phase of Stonehenge was constructed, the Bell-beaker people arrived from the continent (2,500-2,300
B.C.) with their copper working skills and their arrow-heads and daggers. Tin was discovered in Cornwall and a bronze
industry could soon develop. It was these same Beaker folks who subsequently bridged the transition in Ireland from
the Neolithic period to the Bronze Age between 2,000 and 600 B.C., introducing copper and gold ornamentation.
These people also migrated into Scotland to fuse with the earlier flint users who had come from Ireland and Norway
at about 3,000 B.C. McEvedy (Ref. 136 ([187])) calls the Bell-beaker people of the continent "Celto-Ligurians" and
although we dislike getting involved in semantics, we feel that they were definitely not Ligurians and probably not
rightly called Celts, as the latter were not yet definitely separated from the general mass of Indo-European speaking
peoples of central Europe.
But to return to Stonehenge, Phase II dates to about 2,100 B.C., with the placement of a double Bluestone Circle,
with stones six feet apart in the center of the original construction. Part of this, however, was never completed. The
amazing thing is that 82 of these ophitic dolorite stones were somehow brought from their only source, the Prescelly
Mountains of Dyfed, Wales, - some 135 miles "as the crow flies" or 240 miles by sea and land, each weighing several
tons, to Stonehenge. Professor Gerald Hawkins17 has calculated that 209,280 man-days were required to move these
stones. In addition to the Blue Stone Circles an "Altar Stone" was added, the entrance was widened and a new axis
alignment made or astronomical sightings. This Phase II may have been influenced by the Beaker people.
The most spectacular part of the Stonehenge display, however, is Phase III, which consists of the Sarsen Circle of
thirty uprights and lintels, some weighing up to 45 tons. These massive stones came from near Avebury and almost of
necessity had to be moved on ice about the year 2,000 B.C. when England was much colder than before or since.
Professor Alexander Thom, astronomer and mathematician, although differing from Hoyle as to many details, is
equally sure that these ancient stone builders were able to predict eclipses, and after many years of study believes that
all the menhirs (long stones) and cromlechs (curved stones) of Britain and Brittany as well, are similar in purpose.
There are of course other stone circles, some 900 all together, to be found throughout the British Isles. One, known as
Durrington Walls, is two miles north of Amesbury and was built by skilled carpenters of about 2,500 B.C. probably
with a sloping, cone-shaped roof and a central courtyard open to the sky. It is 1,720 feet in diameter. Areton(?) warriors
undoubtedly inhabited these regions after about 1,900 B.C. forming a ruling power aristocracy which lasted some 600
years. The mysterious stone ring of Brogar on one of the Orkney Islands as well as the great tomb at Maeshowe date
to 2,300 B.C., the same time as the construction of the Egyptian pyramids. Later, at about 1,600 B.C., there was a time
17 As
noted in Balfour (Ref. 7 ([12]), page 90)
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
237
of high sea levels, and the coastal forests of Britain were inundated by the sea. (Ref. 176 ([242]), 178 ([245]), 224
([299]), 7 ([12]))
The largest man-made mound of antiquity, rising to a height of 130 feet and spreading at its base well over 5 1/2 acres,
representing an amazing surveying and engineering feat of Stone Age man, has recently been excavated at Silbury
Hall, not far from Avebury, in Wiltshire, England. Multiple tunnels into this giant mound have failed to reveal any
skeletons and its purpose remains unknown.
Recent figures show 4,350 dolmens (usually tombs), 2,070 menhirs, 30 cromlechs and 110 alignments in France. The
most impressive of all may be the 3,000 units made up of 10 to 30 columns of menhirs stretched over two miles of
countryside at Carnac, France. There may have been a select class of priests trained in studying the heavens, and these
may have originated in England, with a later passing on of the secrets to the priests of the Celts, the Druids. Caesar
wrote that the priestly discipline of the Celts was developed in Britain and was carried from there to Gaul, and by
oral, not written, tradition. Professor Thom’s studies indicate that all these stone monuments were built on multiples
of a standard unit of measurement called the megalithic yard and which is the equivalent of 2.72 feet. Although men
had worked on these monuments for 2,000 years, after about 1,500 B.C. no more were built. Professor Hoyle believes
that later generations of astronomer-priests lost the ability to keep the astronomical systems up to date, began to make
errors and then lost their followings. (Ref. 99 ([144]), 215 ([290]), 176 ([242]), 7 ([12]))
4.5.4 SCANDINAVIA
About 3,000 B.C. a few immigrants to Denmark brought agriculture and big, polished flint-stone axes to use as tools to
clear the forest. These axes have been found by the tens of thousands. Dolmens of stone, such as we mentioned under
WESTERN EUROPE, have been found in the range of three to four thousand and are more numerous in Denmark
than anyplace in the world. Megalithic tombs were constructed and many dead were laid to rest in each, some of the
dead wearing hundreds of amber beads.
Beginning about 2,500 B.C. there were people of at least four different cultures living side by side in south Scandinavia.
They were:
1.
2.
3.
4.
The declining remains of the megalithic civilization.
The Single-grave Culture of Jutland, which was related to the next.
Boat-axe Culture of south Sweden.
Pitted Ware or Pit-comb Ware Culture, to be discussed below.
After 2,000 B.C. these various populations fused together in a Neolithic Culture which made beautiful daggers and
other instruments of flint. By 1,500 metal work had appeared in a unique Northern Bronze Age.
After about 2,000 B.C. the amber beads no longer appeared in tombs, as the amber had begun to be traded to the
Mediterranean civilizations. Stone cutting and flint quarries were early Danish industries. The Battle-axe people,
later to be called "Teutons", appeared about 2,000 B.C., but they used no bronze for another thousand years. Farming
communities were present all through southern Scandinavia throughout the third millennium B.C. and it was these
Stone Age men who left the huge grave chambers. Finland and the far north were sparsely populated with the Pitcomb Ware Culture, characterized by ferocious looking, rod-like arrowheads. (Ref. 215 ([290]), 117 ([164]), 88
([131]))
4.5.5 EASTERN EUROPE
The Baltic area and western Russia were colonized chiefly by Indo-Europeans after 3,000 B.C. An exception was the
nomadic ancestors of the Estonians who reached the Baltic from the valleys of the upper Volga. They were related to
Finns and Hungarians, with a language which was not Indo-European. In the third millennium the Pit Grave Culture
of the Ukranian steppes showed wheeled carts and domesticated horses. This may represent the site of the proto-IndoEuropeans, although as mentioned above, the argument goes on. Soviet and German philologists believe that the origin
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
238
CHAPTER 4. EUROPE
of these people and their language had to be near the mouth of the Volga at the north end of the Caspian Sea, with
spread from there both westward into Europe proper and southward and easterly into Iran and then India. They refer
to the people as "Ur-people" and the language as "Ur language". This concept has been seconded by the United States
archeologist of Balt descent, Marija Gimbutas, after her study of the kurgans (burial mounds) of southern Russia. The
Kurgan people seem to have left their homes between 2,400 and 2,300 B.C. to first invade the north shore of the Black
Sea and then the territory of the Trans-Caucasus. The mountain people of the latter area had already had much contact
with the Mesopotamian civilizations and had a civilizing influence on the barbarian Kurgans. The Hittites may have
moved out from this culture in about 2,000 B.C. (Ref. 91 ([135])) Old river names suggest that by 1,500 B.C. the
entire region between the Baltic and the Alps, the British Isles and Hungary, was occupied by people speaking a single
Indo-European idiom called "Old European Language" by the Indo-Europeanist, Hans Krahe18 . A special section at
the end of this chapter will give a more or less complete break down of the various Indo-European languages. In the
meantime let us return to our narrative about eastern Europe in this particular time-frame.
The Ukraine and some areas farther east were soon colonized by pastoral groups, some of which were the ancestors of
later-day Scythians. North of the steppe and desert belt in Russia, around fifty-five degrees north, there was a thin belt
of deciduous forest with some farmers, and still north of that were scattered hunters of the reindeer. Copper working
extended almost to the Arctic by 1,850 B.C. Peasant farmers from central Europe continued to push eastward along
the forest belt of central Russia, growing the hardy cereals as crops and reaching Moscow and the southern Urals by
2,000 B.C. (Ref. 8 ([14]), 225 ([301]), 45 ([66]), 88 ([131]))
The Baltic linguistic group of northeastern Indo-Europeans came to the eastern Baltic and western Russia area before
and about 2,000 B.C. as agriculturalists and cattle raisers. They originally reached northward to Finland and eastward
to the upper Volga19 , but only the southeastern Baltic groups survived through the Bronze Age, the Iron Age and
down to about A.D. 500, living between the Oder and Dvina rivers. There are hundreds of Baltic loan words in the
Finno-Ugrian languages. The Galindians (Golyad of Russian chronicles) were the easternmost Balts, extending up to
the Moscow area and existing up until the 12th century of the Christian Era. Some islands of these people still existed
around Smolensk, Vitebsk and Minsk, almost up until the present time. The only true survivors today, however,
are some families in Latvia and Lithuania, probably mixed with invading Germans, Poles and Russians through the
centuries. They at least still have Baltic languages. (Ref. 8 ([14]), 61 ([90]))
Even after 2,000 B.C. the Fatyanovo Culture existed in central Russia. By 1,800 three rather distinct peoples occupied
their own zones in eastern Europe. In addition to the Balts, which we have described as occupying the Baltic area, to
the south was a band of Slavs extending from far in Russia west to the Vistula, and finally the entire southern area west
and just north of the Black Sea was occupied by the Thraco-Cimmerians. At 1,600 B.C. the Balts and Slavs were still
without the use of bronze, although it was in common use to the west with the proto-Celts and to the south among the
Thraco-Cimmerians. (Ref. 136 ([187]))
Forward to Europe 1500 to 1000 B.C. (Section 4.6)
NOTE : As the Bronze Age set in about 2300 B.C. Cyprus came into its own because of its geologic gift of
copper. The Troodos Mountains of this island were once oceanic crust, thrust up some 70 million years ago
by the advancing African and Arabian tectonic plates and they are loaded with copper and other metals. At
first the ancients could simply pick copper nuggets off the ground. (Ref. 281 ([113]))
4.6 Europe: 1500 to 1000 B.C.20
4.6.1 SOUTHERN EUROPE
Back to Europe 3000 to 1500 B.C. (Section 4.5)
18 "Volga"
is a Baltic word meaning "long"
noted by Herm (Ref. 91 ([135])), page 71
20 This content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17857/1.2/>.
19 As
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
239
4.6.1.1 EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN ISLANDS
The Cretan civilization ended within the first fifty years of this time period but the exact nature and cause of the
destruction is not known. Syridon Marinatos, late Inspector General of Antiguities of Greece, believed that Crete was
destroyed by a tremendous volcanic action in Thera, the island known anciently as Kalliste and later also as Sartorini.
This last eruption of the Thera volcano was followed by massive tidal waves as the island center collapsed, and these
waves surged outward perhaps 650 feet high at probably two hundred miles an hour, dealing the settlements of Crete
a pulverizing blow. The ash was carried as far as 1600 miles, killing vegetation and choking harbors. The force of this
volcanic explosion has been equated with that of 500 to 1,000 atomic bombs. The ash fallout plunged the Aegean Sea
area into night for weeks. Total deposits of the ash on the remnant of Thera are still two hundred feet deep and the
same ash has been found recently to be a layer seven feet thick some 9,850 feet deep on the floor of the Mediterranean
Sea, 87 miles from the volcano. Scandinavian scholars date this tremendous upheaval of the Mediterranean world
as late as 1,200 B.C. and feel that the Sea People who roamed the Mediterranean, raiding the coasts of Asia Minor
and Egypt were displaced peoples from island and other coastal civilizations destroyed in this great cataclysm. The
period is likened by Heyerdahl (Ref. 95 ([140])) to what he has described as a similar great unknown tumult of just
before 3,000 B.C. There is no doubt but that the blast completely changed the Mediterranean, whether it completely
destroyed Crete or weakened it for subsequent invasion by Mycenaeans, or whatnot. The Thera explosion was four
times greater than the A.D.1,883 Java eruption that took 36,000 lives and spread a cloud of ash around the earth’ (Ref.
129 ([179]), 176 ([242]), 109 ([155]))
Arguments still go on about the actual dating of the great Thera incident, some recent revisions of radio-carbon
datings indicating that it occurred about 1,600 B.C. and thus could not have had direct bearing on the Cretan demise.
Regardless, there is no doubt that even before its final end, Crete had been subjected to devastating attacks in its
island territories by the Phoenicians, new masters of the Mediterranean, and to attacks at home by the Mycenaean,
"barbarian" Greeks. The latter, perhaps simply following their own warlike instincts for plunder, definitely came
ashore on Crete, at least later, and left their marks, destroying whatever remained of all the palaces except Knossos,
which they used for their own capital. The Mycenaean rulers wrote their language in Linear B which has now been at
least partially deciphered and appears to be a form of ancient Greek. By 1,375 B.C. even Knossos was burned to the
ground and whether this was done by rebelling, remnant Minoans or squabbling Mycenaeans chief s, no one knows.
A disastrous expedition to Sicily had been undertaken at about that time, and its failure may have led to the fall of
the Knossos lords. Still another view, however, is that Knossos remained functional until 1, 150 B.C. when it fell to
invading Dorian Greeks. (Ref. 188 ([257])) The last vestiges of the Cretan or Minoan civilization in their colonies
along the coast of Asia Minor were also destroyed at a still later period by Ionian Greeks who then made their own
settlements there. Remnants or refugees from the Cretan society are said to have fled to the Palestine coast, where they
became known as Philistines21 .
The Thera volcano was not the only cataclysmic occurrence of this period. There were earthquakes all over the
Mediterranean and even northern Europe while volcanoes erupted in Italy and the Sinai and seismic tidal waves
"caused the sea to recede from the land and even sucked out the rivers"22 . After 1,100 B.C. the Dorian Greeks, who
had charged down the Greek peninsula, crossed over to Crete to repopulate it and become the ancestors of its present
population. (Ref. 127 ([176])) Rhodes was also colonized by Dorians from Argos in the 11th century B.C. (Ref. 38
([59]))
4.6.1.2 GREECE
Mycenaean power was dominant in the Mediterranean at least after 1,400 B.C.23 and their pottery was popular from
Italy to the Turkish coast. They used many slaves, especially women who were used in the textile and bronze industries,
as well as in private households. Some were captured in war, many were bought. Houses had flushing lavatories and
bath rooms supplied with terra cotta pipes and sloping gutters. (Ref. 213 ([288])) In the 14th century B.C. a giant
21 Mc Evedy (Ref. 136 ([187])) says that some refugee Achaeans may have been with the Cretans as they "transformed" into Philistines, as there
are close parallels between Philistine and Mycenaean pottery.
22 Herm (Ref. 91 ([135])), page 87
23 Grant (Ref. 75 ([115])) writes that the Mycenaean civilization started at 1,700 B.C.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
240
CHAPTER 4. EUROPE
mound covering a stone tomb was constructed at Mycenae which was 48 feet in diameter, 43 feet high to the tip of the
dome and had a doorway topped with a lintel made of a 100 ton stone.
At about the 13th century B.C. at the height of their power and when the Mycenaeans controlled the Aegean world,
they suddenly began to fortify all their cities and strengthen their defences, indicating a premonition of disaster. Other
Greek speaking tribes had begun to drift down into the Greek peninsula by about 1,500 B.C. but it was not until about
1,300 that they were sufficiently strong to begin to usurp the Mycenaean power, so that by the end of that century
the Mycenaean cities and fortresses were in ruins, the art degenerated and the written language (Linear B) had been
forgotten. (Ref. 215 ([290]), 176 ([242])) 1,250 B.C. is usually given as the traditional date of the Trojan War, with
complete collapse of Mycenaea by 1,200, but Cotterell (Ref. 41 ([62])) gives the latter date as 1,150 B.C.
There were three main tribes of the new, invading Greeks, each with its own variation of the Greek language - lonic,
Aeolic and Doric. The Dorians, descending from the upper Balkans about 1,200 B.C. are generally credited with
the actual destruction of the Mycenaean Kingdom. They took the best lands with the less favored regions left to the
other tribes. Attica became Ionian, along with a group of cities across the Aegean in the central section of the Asia
Minor coast, and from these people came the master institution of Greek civilization, that is, the polis. Physically the
polis consisted of a town or city with an area of farm and pasture land surrounding it. Politically it was a community
governed by magistrates and laws. All of the invading warriors had ancestral ties with central Asia nomads and still
lived a similar life, eating sheep, goat and wild hog. Still another tribe, the Thessalians, entered Greece in the province
which now carries their name, sometime before 1,000 B.C. (Ref. 215 ([290]), 136 ([187]), 211 ([284]))
4.6.1.3 UPPER BALKANS
Thrace, in the area of present Bulgaria and a corner of present Greece along with European Turkey, began a lively
period with identifiable rulers and Indo-European gods, at about 1,500 B.C. This country had two coasts - one on the
Aegean and the other on a corner of the Black Sea - and thus was at the cross-road of West and East. The Thracians
were formidable horsemen with a taste for battle, banditry and elegant gold objects. Their goldsmiths were producing
masterpieces in the 13th and 12th centuries B.C. One of the largest gold finds of Europe’s Bronze Age comes from
Vulchitrun, Bulgaria and dates to this period, with many resemblances to the art of Mycenaea. They did not have
a written language and knowledge of them has come chiefly through their Greek neighbors and recent Bulgarian
excavations. This was the homeland of the Phrygeans, who began at this time to spread to Asia Minor. (Ref. 171)
4.6.1.4 ITALY
As noted in the last chapter, before 1,200 B.C. Italy was inhabited by a thinly scattered, backward population of dark
whites of the Iberian or Mediterranean race. Then migrating Aryan Italics moved down, certainly by the end of this
period, at 1,000 B.C., settled most of northern and eastern Italy, intermarried with the natives and established the
Italian groups of Aryan languages. This included the Latin tribe south and east of the Tiber, and the Umbrians and
the Sabines. These latter, living near Villanova, may have been the first Europeans to learn the use of iron. Extreme
northern Italy, as well as the Mediterranean coasts of France and part of Spain, was originally peopled by a nonEuropean speaking group called Ligurians. They were apparently pushed north by the Italics, where they came in
contact with early Celts so that about 1,200 B.C. this Ligurian culture was absorbed into the Celto-ltalic (Apennine D)
and the people gave up their own language to take on the Celtic-P tongue. Subsequently they were referred to by some
European historians as Celto-Ligurians. They soon adopted the cremation rituals of the Urnfield Culture. The Italics
at the toe of Italy pushed the Sicles toward Sicily, which was inhabited at the time by the Sican tribe, of unknown
origin and language. In Etruria, of central Italy between the Tiber and the Arno, there was a Bronze Age Culture
called Apennine and there was an abundance of copper and some tin for the making of bronze. Copper from the island
of Elba was used throughout the 2nd millennium B.C. South Italy began to receive contacts from Mycenaean Greece
as early as 1,300 B.C., particularly on the island of Pithecusae on the west, and Vivara and Lipara, and by the 13th
century B.C. Mycenaean imports were already common. (Ref. 136 ([187]), 75 ([115]))
For hundreds of years the peaceful farmers of Corsica had buried their dead in great stone chambers with nearby
single, standing menhirs which were roughly-shaped, unadorned, raised stones, and some seven feet high. After 1,500
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
241
B.C. there was a dramatic change and these menhirs became distinct sculptures with carved heads, tunics, daggers and
swords. Whether they represented war trophies or memorials to a courageous enemy is still debatable. At about this
same time, or at least between the 14th and the 12th centuries B.C., a tribe of the Sea People, the Shardana, came by
way of Libya across the Mediterranean and overran the southern part of Corsica, pushing the remnants of the original
Corsicans north, and by 1,000 B.C. the latter had disappeared. The conquering Shardana burned their dead and did
not put up monuments. (Ref. 176 ([242]))
4.6.2 CENTRAL EUROPE
In this time-frame an Indo-European speaking, tall, blonde people emerged as a confederation of tribes from a prehistoric complex and began to inhabit the bulk of Europe, spreading out from a "nest" around the rich ore fields of
Bohemia and the central German mountains. Called Unetice, the distinguishing feature of this Bohemian-central German culture up until about 1,500 B.C. was the burial mound, but by 1,300 they had given this up in favor of cremation
with the ashes of the dead placed in urns in cemeteries, and thus becoming known as the Urnfield Culture. This became
the custom of later peoples, including the Italics, Venetians and Illyrians., and it may also have been the cradle of the
three linguistic variations of "Old Indo-European" and possibly also that of the Phrygians and Armenians who settled
in Anatolia about 1,200 B.C. All of these people were farmers, not much inclined to village life, raising animals, hunting, sacrificing to sun-gods, using the battle axe and both two and four wheeled chariots. People later to be identified
as true Celts had probably not become differentiated at this time, although there is much confusion in the literature
on this point, and many would call the early waves of Indo-Europeans of the Urnfield Culture by this name. (Ref. 91
([135]))
It is probable that after 1,220 B.C. the Scandinavian branches of the old Indo-European peoples which had migrated
south after the catastrophes which seem to have occurred there in the 15th century (See SCANDINAVIA, this chapter),
reached central Europe and spread with the local people in various directions - some to the Apennine peninsula to become the Ambrones, later Umbrians - some drove the Veneti to northern Italy and the forefathers of the Illyrians to
Yugoslavia, and the Phrygians and Armenians to Anatolia – and finally some went to Greece. In the far north of the
continent proper, the Thuringians Germanized north Germany and the Goths, Burgundians, Alemans and Marcomans
prepared to move west as the Lausitz Slavs moved in behind them. (Ref. 194 ([266]), 91 ([135]))
4.6.3 WESTERN EUROPE
It was in the 12th century B.C. that Phoenicians from Sidon first settled on the coast of Spain, building a light house
at La Coruna to be used as a guide for their ships going to England for tin. Soon after, other Phoenicians from Tyre
established trading posts along the Guadalquiver River and finally founded Cadiz about 1,100 B.C. (Ref. 196 ([269]))
At this period Spain had a basic population of dark whites who may have been the ancestors of present day Basques,
and there were Ligurians on the west coast. The latter had invaded from France and were actually a mixture of early
or pre-Celts with Celtic speaking Ligurians who were numerous in France. McEvedy (Ref . 136) insists that about
1,200 B.C. a branch of these same people crossed over into England, conquering and intermarrying with the natives,
who were already a mixed group of dark-haired and dark skinned people, possibly Iberian in origin, and light-haired
Scandinavians. All of these people spread throughout England and Wales. The area of Wessex was particularly
prosperous, with trading contacts with most of Europe and the Mediterranean. Working on the assumption that some
of these early invaders of the British Isles were actually Celts, we can differentiate two stocks:
1. The Goidels (Gaels) still surviving in northern Ireland and nigh Scotland, representing a survival of the earliest
Beaker-folk with a Q-Celtic tongue
2. the Cymri and Brythons (Britons) still represented in Wales as the P-Celtic, Urnfield people. The latter were
close kin to the Gaulic Belgi
(Ref. 136 ([187]), 196 ([269]))
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
242
CHAPTER 4. EUROPE
4.6.4 SCANDINAVIA
As the early Celtic people spread across northern Europe, they did not enter Scandinavia, and actually even made a
type of barrier cutting off some trade between Scandinavia and the Mediterranean areas. In spite of this some iron,
which was the secret weapon of the Celts, seeped into Scandinavia, so that they also had what might be called a
"Celtic Iron Age", even though their basic economy still depended mainly on imported bronze to the extent that their
unique metal work developed a special Northern Bronze Age. People buried their dead in log coffins in barrows and
the clothing and hair were preserved intact. Rock scribings of wild animals and legendary scenes hewn into rock
continued to be produced throughout large areas of Scandinavia, including Finland, and even parts of northern Russia.
The richest finds of these scribings straddles the Swedish-Norwegian border. (Ref. 122 ([170]), 228 ([304]))
The climate in Scandinavia was for awhile warmer and drier than today and then it became cold again. Glaciers
expanded, the sea level sank and vines stopped growing. In the more southern areas the Teutonic or Germanic tribes
were in growth and some had already migrated to Britain and back and forth to the main continent. Danish amber
was in demand on the continent and by 1,000 B.C. the Danes decked themselves with ornate weapons and ornaments
and used bronze lurs as musical instruments. Navigation science must have been fairly well established, as there was
much sailing of narrow, keel boats about England, Jutland and Brittany and perhaps even to Gibralter and the Canary
Islands, where boat drawings similar to the Scandinavian ones have been found. (Ref. 117 ([164]))
4.6.5 EASTERN EUROPE
The previously described Urnfield Culture, involving the burial of the ashes of the dead in urns, appeared in Poland
about 1,300 B.C. and was also called the Lausitz Culture. These early people of Poland were the Lusatians, a western
branch of Slavs. The eastern Slavs by the Pripet marshes of the middle Dnieper River did not use this burial method.
North of both of these Slavic groups the Balts and/or Letts lived on the south shore of the Baltic. As indicated
previously they may be neither purely Slavonic nor Teutonic nor Celtic. Their classical Baltic Bronze Age Culture,
located between the Oder and Dvina, included local metal objects, pottery and burial rites in barrows surrounded by
stone rings. To the northeast of the Balts all land area was sparsely inhabited by Finns and/or Lapps. The bulk of the
southern branch of the Baltic Finns was the Estonians. Others of this group were the Livs (now about 1,000 remain
on the tip of Courland) and the Votes. There are perhaps a few of the latter still around Narva, but they originally
occupied all of Ingria. All of these Finns, like the Balts, came originally from the great arc of the Volga in the first
half of the 2nd millennium B.C. and probably met with the Aesti, described by Tacitus. As they reached their Baltic
homes, they intermarried with Balts and Lapps in an amount unknown. Southern Russia, from the Carpathians to the
Caspian Sea was inhabited at that period by the Aryan Cimmerians, probably closely related to the Thracians. The
Cimmerian name is preserved in the Crimean peninsula of the Black Sea. (Ref. 136 ([187]), 61 ([90]), 144 ([197]))
Forward to Europe: 1000 to 700 B.C. (Section 4.7)
4.7 Europe: 1000 to 700 B.C.24
4.7.1 EUROPE
Back to Europe 1500 to 1000 B.C. (Section 4.6)
4.7.1.1 SOUTHERN EUROPE
4.7.1.1.1 EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN ISLANDS
The great island empires of previous centuries no longer existed, and all of these areas were integral parts of either
Greece or Asian states. For example, the southern half of Cyprus was now under Phoenician influence, while the
northern half, along with
24 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17856/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
243
Rhodes and Crete were under Greek control. At various periods around 800 B.C. Assyrians, Egyptians and Persians
conquered Cyprus, but let native kings rule. Dorian Greeks continued to control Crete, however. (Ref. 38 ([59]))
4.7.1.1.2 GREECE
As the classical Greeks multiplied and migrated down the peninsula they did not develop a civilization of their own
but, as barbarians, they wrecked one (Cretan and Mycenaean) and then built a new one out of the old. The Mycenaean
cities and culture were so destroyed that even the art of writing was lost until about 800 B.C. when the Greeks adapted
the Phoenician alphabet to their language. (Ref. 28 ([48])) "Alpha", "beta", "gamma" are not Greek words, but come
from Semitic terms for ox, house and camel.
The development of iron working techniques also contributed to cultural change and a well proportioned "geometric"
pottery appeared about 900 B.C. This later turned up in Etruria in Italy, perhaps as copies. Early Greece was not fertile
enough to support a fast- growing population and the need for more land, coupled with political oppression by the
ruling classes led to two hundred years of extensive colonial expansion involving all the shores of the Mediterranean
as well as the Aegean islands, Sicily, and Thrace. The colonies soon became independent of the mother cities, which
continued to fight among themselves. Thucydides dates the earliest sea battle of history to about 712 B.C. between
Corinthians and Corcyraeans. Corinth was formed from the union of a group of villages early in the 8th century B.C.
and soon was wealthy because it was on the key land route between all the Hellenes (so-named from the mythical
King Hellen, progenitor of all Greek peoples).
The Greeks added vowels to the Phoenician alphabet, and soon their language and their love of beauty fused into the
Greek genius which transformed the world of that time.
NOTE: Insert Map Reference 97: Greek and Pheonician Colonies
The first Olympiad was held in 776 B.C. (Ref. 45 ([66]), 216 ([291]), 68 ([106]), 75 ([115]))
The fertile, wooded island of Euboea, just off the Greek coast became a great maritime power about the 9th century
B.C. establishing a trading post at Al Mina on the coast of Syria which subsequently became a great source of gold
and silver. Similarly, in the 8th century B.C. they established a trading post on the island of Pithecusae off the west
coast of Italy for development of trade with the Etruscan city-states. (R-75)
4.7.1.1.3 UPPER BALKANS
The upper Balkan area seethed with Dacians, Thracians and Greeks and at this time a horde of ferocious, bearded,
barbarian giants, the Scythians, appeared around the Black Sea, displacing the Cimmerians from around the north
shore and the Crimea.
At the same time, the Greeks were bringing civilization back into the area of Thrace with various colonies along
the Aegean coast. Iron working was well established along the Thracian and Illyrian areas. Colin Renfrew (Ref.
179 ([244])) believes that the Thracian gold- smiths, working in Bulgaria, were the descendants of the Copper Age
mound-makers described in earlier chapters.
4.7.1.1.4 ITALY
The Terramare peoples had already spread through eastern Italy and part of Sicily by the era under discussion and
probably became the Samnite, Sabine and Latin tribes, as mentioned in the last chapter. In Etruria, between the Arno
and the Tiber, in the 1 0th and 9th centuries, B.C. there were groups of Iron Age villages and by the next century
special bronzes began to be imported from Sardinia. Between 750 and 700 B.C. various hill top villages in this
Etruscan area began to be consolidated into city-states, with true urbanization. The first was Tarquinii, some miles
north of the Tiber mouth on the west coast; then Caere to the south, reaching the Tiber; then Vulci to the north of
Tarquinii; and finally Clusium and Veii, as inland city-states. All were fundamentally Etruscan people, speaking a
non-lndo-European language which was known later to educated Romans, but which remains essentially untranslated
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
244
CHAPTER 4. EUROPE
today. The first three city-states mentioned above became independently strong sea powers, with large trade potentials
based on enormous copper, iron and tin mines in the mountains of their respective regions. They traded these much
wanted metals for gold, first through the Phoenicians from Sidon and Tyre, then after 800 B.C. with Carthaginians
who established commercial outposts in Italy, Sardinia and Sicily,(as well as in France and Spain). In the 8th century
it was the Greeks from the island of Euboea who established their large trading centers on the island of Pithecusae
and on the mainland nearby at Cumae, to get the metals from the various Etruscan city-states and the Etruscan held
island of Elba. The Euboean connections with Syria and Asia Minor also allowed the distribution of Oriental objects
in Etruria. Another product from the region of Campigliese was alum, used particularly as a binder in the dyeing of
fabrics and shoe-leather, both of which were Etruscan specialties.
About 1,000 B.C. Villanovan migrants from the Danube, using iron, crossed the Tiber and settled in Latium, exterminating or marrying the existing population. There was undoubtedly a great deal of shifting of populations and many of
the Villanovans may have become assimilated into the Etruscan city-states and certainly many Greeks became permanent residents there, bringing much of their culture with them. The Etruscans of Tarquinii spread southward across the
Tiber to Capua as early as 800 B.C. probably to facilitate trade with Cumae. It is a mistake to consider the Etruscans as
a single, homogenous group, as they lived in their separate city-states, sometimes trading with each other, sometimes
fighting and usually failing in every attempt at any coordinated efforts. Grant (Ref. 75 ([115])) says that they were
much like the modern Japanese in that they were great imitators and they copied all Greek works of art, adding some
of their own improvements and unique variations.
There were settlements of some type at Rome probably through the 10th and 9th centuries B.C., but the traditional
date for the official settlement of Rome is always given as 753 B.C. Just across the Tiber the Etruscan city-state of
Veii was formed by a coalition of villages between 750 and 700 B.C.. Ancient writers said that it had a population of
100,000 but this was undoubtedly an exaggeration, although it probably was as large as Athens. Veii had no metals,
but became rich from agriculture and the salt beds at the mouth of the Tiber. Rock-cut arched drainage channels and
tunnels, sometimes two miles long, were made to facilitate drainage and their roads were excellent.
Based on Herodotus’ reports from Lydian sources, the traditional concept was that the Etruscans came from Lydia in
Asia Minor, but almost all modern authorities feel that this is completely in error. (Ref . 75). McEvedy (Ref. 136
([187])) believes the Etruscans were natives of the old Iberian group and that their higher culture developed from early
contact with Greeks who were interested in the Elban and Etrurian iron and copper deposits. This view is strengthened
by the Cambridge University Encyclopedia of Archeology (Ref. 45 ([66])) which says that the 10,000 known Etruscan
inscriptions belong to an old Mediterranean substratum still largely undeciphered. Michael Grant (Ref . 75) gave
further documentation of this view in 1980. It is of interest that non-Indo-European languages were also spoken by
the Ligurians and Raetians of northern Italy, the Corsicans, Sardinians and the Sicans of western Sicily. Tharros was
a Phoenician port on the west side of Sardinia which received gold from Spain and then traded it extensively with the
Etruscan cities for their own metal and agricultural products. It was the wealthiest of all the Sardinian cities, with
multiple workshops for production of gold, silver, precious gem jewelry and ornaments. (Ref. 75 ([115])) Bronze
objects from these Sardinian workshops were arriving at Etruscan harbors throughout the 9th and 8th centuries B.C. In
other parts of Italy, proper, there were the Iron Age groups of Picentes, Veneti and Iapyges. Some Etruscan city-states,
particularly Volaterrae and Clusium, also extended their trade and influence north into the Transalpine regions. By 750
B.C., under this impulse, Felsina25 had become an economic power, as an amalgamation of villages with easy access
to Etruria.
4.7.1.2 CENTRAL EUROPE
About 1,000 B.C. various branches of the Urnfield Culture, a group of related tribes with common culture and burial
practices, dominated the Rhine/Danube axis, and began to expand into valleys of the main river thoroughfares. Four
main branches gave rise to important groups of historic peoples: Celts in the west along the upper Main, Moselle and
the Rhone, Slavs in the north from the Elbe to east of the Oder, Italic-speakers in the region of Hungary and Illyrians
in the southeast about the river Tisza and Muresul. (Ref. 8 ([14])) Some would say that the Celts did not really emerge
25 "Felsina"
was an Etruscan name, later called "Bononia" by Romans, after the conquering Boii Gaulic tribe.It is now "Bologna".
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
245
as a distinct people of common language, religion and culture until about the 8th century B.C., and as manifested in
the Hallstadt Culture (800-500 B.C.)26 , located near the richest salt deposits in Europe and definitely influenced by
the Etruscans from the south. In 1846 some 1,100 graves were opened in the Nieder as well as the Hallstadt regions
of Austria, showing the extensive iron utilization and decoration of this Celtic Age. The Celts were energetic and
inventive, using iron for tools and weapons. "They introduced soap to the Greeks and Romans, invented chain armor,
were first to shoe horses and give shape to hand saws, chisels, files and other tools we use today. They developed
seamless iron rims for their wheels, set our standard 4 feet 8 1/2 inch railroad gauge with the span of their chariots,
pioneered the iron plowshare, the rotary flour mill, a wheeled harvester two millennia before Cyrus McCormick27 .
Farther north there was ever increasing pressure from the Germanic tribes with some Teutons already moving up the
Elbe and Rhine. The oldest Germanic wind instruments date back to 800 B.C. In a triangular area in northern Europe
bounded by the rivers Aller and Saal in the west, a line running east from the river Somme to the Taunus mountains
to the head of the Saal, and by the North Sea coast on the northwest, there were no Celts, and before the Germanic
tribes began their migrations from the east and north, the people in this area spoke an older language than either Celtic
or German. Some place-names in this region still bear the stamp of this unknown tongue, another example of ancient
Europeans who did not speak an Indo-European tongue. (Ref. 8, 91)
4.7.1.3 WESTERN EUROPE
In the early part of this period, the people of western Europe were in a middle Bronze Age, speaking languages at
present unknown. In Spain the Phoenicians had reached the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir River in Andalusia and
they traded for metals mined by the natives, who seem to have been mainly Basques. The largest Phoenician city was
Tarshish (Greek - Tartessos) and the script they used is called Tartessian, an only slightly modified Phoenician. The
ships of Tarshish were the largest sea-going vessels known to the ancient world.
The first Indo-European speaking tribes who emigrated into France between 900 and 700 B.C. ran into the Ligurians
who were short, muscular farmers, dangerous in battle. They had already had contact with Greek traders and Greek
civilization. (Ref. 91) By the end of the 8th century B.C. Indo-European peoples were pouring into all areas of western
Europe and even before that there was extensive trading occurring from the continent to Britain, as evidenced by the
imported tools, weapons and trinkets. It will be recalled that the possibility of still earlier migrations of Celtic-speaking
people to the British Isles was mentioned in the last chapter. It is possible that the Picts of Scotland were descended
from the prehistoric Abernethy Culture, people who may have migrated from Germany to Scotland about 1,000 B.C.
Our very limited knowledge of their language suggests a mixture of Celtic and some older speech. They were excellent
metalsmiths and had a symbolic art which survives on some stones. (Ref. 65,43,45).
4.7.1.4 SCANDINAVIA
Denmark continued in an extended Bronze Age with a non-egalitarian society based on a mixed farming and herding
economy. But the Danes were also highly skilled metallurgists and carpenters and had contacts with central Europe.
The political leader was also the religious leader and there was an elite class who controlled trade and religion. While
in the early Bronze Age, preceding the period under discussion, the dead were buried in wooden coffins, in later times
(1,100-500 B.C.) cremation was common and the ashes were of ten placed in a pottery urn. Archaeologists have
uncovered about 350 hoards of bronze and occasional gold objects which may have represented religious offerings of
some kind. The objects included tools, swords, neckrings, armbands, brooches, belt ornaments, buckets, cups, bridle
bits and shields, all of excellent workmanship, perhaps constructed by very specialized craftsmen. Eighty-one of the
hoards, dated from the 9th to the 8th centuries, B.C., all contain women’s ornaments in what appear to be special sets.
The presence of animal bones and harvesting sickles in some hoards suggest that part of the purpose of the hoards was
to insure fertility of the crops and herds. (Ref. 257) The Danes also developed their own Iron Age, using bog-iron.
The people of Jutland of this period were the Vandals about whom we shall hear much more in later chapters.
26 Herm
27 From
(Ref. 91 ([135])) dates the Hallstadt Culture from 700 to 450 B.C.
Merle Severy (Ref. 194 ([266])), page 588.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
246
CHAPTER 4. EUROPE
Southern Sweden also continued its Bronze Age culture at this time and there was a general spread of Teutonic tribes
throughout the area.
4.7.1.5 EASTERN EUROPE
Along the Baltic coast were German tribes and Balts. From the Elbe east to beyond the Oder were the proto-Slav,
Urnfield Culture Lusatians, destined to become the Western group which had migrated from the east Carpathians to
the Dnieper area became the Eastern Slavs. Some 140 miles northwest of Warsaw the Lusatian town of Biskupin
has been excavated, showing an extra-ordinary stone enclosed area of five acres with one hundred identical houses
arranged in thirteen rows, all made of oak and pine. a 130 yard-long wooden causeway linked the city, which was
originally on an island in a lake, to the mainland. It is obvious that in addition to being skilled in the use of wood these
people had a high social development, and some feel that their knowledge was carried over later to the Druids of the
Celtic people.
By 800 B.C. the Eastern Slavs were completely conquered by the ferocious Scythians who took over the area about
the Black Sea. The Slavs of this region were the ancestors of the Russian, Ukranian and White Russian peoples, and
they had an innate aptitude for work in metal. The Scythians were primarily of Indo-European stock but may have had
some added Mongol elements. In addition to dominating the local Slavs, the Scythians displaced the Cimmerians who
had previously occupied the north shore of the Black Sea about the Scythians because much that has been described
about them has come from Herodotus’ The Persian Wars (Ref. 92) and one must always take this tales "with a grain
of salt". In Book IV he described a visit to Scythia and wrote of their legends and customs. These included various
barbarous activities including their propensity for beheading an enemy, then skinning him and making coats, caps and
cushions from the skin. The skulls may have been used for drinking cups, after gilding of the interiors. The blood of
the first victim was always drunk and scalps were taken to be later used as napkins. Herodutus told of hard, cruel men
with leathery skin, filthy hair, wild cavernous eyes and many wives, all loving strong wine and smoking hashish while
living chiefly in the saddle. (Ref. 92, 176, 8) They must not have been completely savage, however, as archeologists
have shown that they produced highly developed arts and crafts with gold necklaces, miniature, cast animal figures
and delicate glass ware. (Ref. 91) ***(*Page 1185) Additional Notes (p. 246)
NOTE :
The Scythians came from the Altai mountain regions of Asia. (Ref. 279)
Forward to Europe: 700 to 601 (Section 4.8)
4.8 Europe: 700 to 601 B.C.28
4.8.1 EUROPE
Back to Europe 1000 to 700 B.C. (Section 4.7)
Beginning about 700 B.C. and lasting for the next 1,000 years most of Europe seems to have been somewhat colder
and moister than it is now. (Ref. 215 ([290]))
4.8.1.1 SOUTHERN EUROPE
4.8.1.1.1 EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN ISLANDS
Crete remained under Dorian Greek control, while the Aegean islands overall belonged to a mixture of Ionian and
Dorian tribes. Rhodes remained independent and even had a colony on Gela, in Sicily. (Ref. 38 ([59]))
28 This
content is available online at <http://cnx.org/content/m17855/1.2/>.
Available for free at Connexions <http://cnx.org/content/col10597/1.2>
247
4.8.1.1.2 GREECE
The Greek civilization continued to develop in Greece proper as well as on the coasts of southern Italy and Asia Minor.
There was a series of city-states, most of which were aristocratic republics by the end of this century. Cavalry played
a decisive role in inter-state warfare and only the wealthy could be cavalrymen, with the result that noble landowners
developed an increased influence. Sparta was supreme in the Peloponnese, while Athens was the major power in
Attica. The hillsides of Attica had already been denuded of lumber for houses, ships and charcoal for metal working
by 650 B.C. and the consequent erosion of the marginal land removed the soil to the point where little would grow and
the peasants began to go into debt. All of Greece had poor land for livestock and thus with scarcity of animal fats, the
Greeks cultivated olives for their oil, and depended on food imports for the remainder of their food necessities. The
urgent need for grain stimulated much of their later enterprises.
Metal coins were introduced stamped with the likeness of an ear of wheat. Although gold, ivory and marble were used
on sculpture and public buildings, the common people lived in houses of sun-dried brick, built on rubble in narrow
streets strewn each day with litter thrown from the houses. Wives were held to housekeeping and childbearing while
husbands, if they could afford it, openly took concubines and associated with the hetairae, women of education, wit
and beauty, groomed for this profession, not unlike the Geisha of more modern Japan. There were about ten slaves
for every free citizen and it was felt that about one hundred slaves were necessary to keep one philosopher in comfort.
(Ref. 222 ([296]), 211 ([284]), 77 ([117]))
4.8.1.1.3 UPPER BALKANS
The Greeks had cities on the Black Sea coast of present day Bulgaria and Romania while Thrace began its period of
highest culture. The Macedonians were Greeks, speaking a dialect remotely connected to those in Greece, proper, but
developed separately. A series of local chieftains ruled until the middle of this century when the country was partially
united by King Perdiccas I. (Ref. 180 ([246]))
4.8.1.1.4 ITALY
On the Italian peninsula there were multiple tribes, including the Latins and the Sabines, but dominating most of the
north and central parts were the Etruscan city- states. Rome, itself, was ruled after 616 B.C. by Tarquinius Priscus,
son of a Corinthian Greek man and an Etruscan woman. The Etruscans absorbed writing and other elements of the
Hellenic civilization, assimilated and changed them and passed them on to other Italic peoples. The Latin alphabet
was derived from the Etruscans, but the latter were never able to inflict their language on the Romans and in essence
Rome remained a city of a dual culture. The Etruscans, themselves, had attained a certain degree of unity of culture
and language. They attempted to form an Etruscan League, but the ties with adjacent tribes were more religious and
cultural than truly political and concerted action was difficult to obtain. The Etruscans were superior engineers, and
the Roman Theophrastus, writing later in the third century